JAPAN SOYBEAN FUTURES DOWN AS GM PRODUCTS SHUNNED
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October 5, 1999
Dow Jones
TOKYO -- The Nihon Keizai Shimbun was cited as reporting in its Tuesday
evening edition that October futures contracts for imported soybeans are
declining rapidly on Japan's four grain exchanges as food processing
companies shift their purchases to soybeans that have not been
genetically modified. The story says that domestic food firms began to
shun GM produce after the Japanese government announced plans to require
labeling of products made from GM crops beginning in April 2001. A
market source was quoted as saying, "The futures market is swamped with
sell orders for the October contract on U.S. soybeans harvested in 1998
because they are mixed with large amounts of GM products." Japanese
traders are rapidly switching to imports of GM-free soybeans produced
this year, which will arrive in Japan for delivery against the December
and subsequent contracts.