Brazil issues rule facilitating U.S. GMO soy imports, ministry says

Brazil's Agriculture Ministry has issued a regulation facilitating imports of genetically modified (GMO) soybean from the United States, it said in a statement in response to questions from Reuters.

The statement sent late on Thursday said the regulation conferred legal security to imports of grains from the United states "by recognizing the equivalence of genetically modified events approved in the United States and in Brazil." Brazil is the world's top producer exporter of soybeans but this year, local farmers have sold such huge volumes to top importer China that little was left for domestic consumption.

The situation led to price rises for feed for animal farming and meatpacking operations in Brazil, and contributed to food price inflation. The rule was published in the official gazette on Nov. 4, according to the statement.