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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →In January 2018, the European Commission accepted a positive scientific opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and approved the import of Bayer and MS Technologies’ FG72 × LL55 soybeans for food and feed. The reported decision covered importing the beans, not growing them in the European Union. The source is a January 17, 2018 trade-news report, so its launch dates and herbicide statements describe the situation in 2018 and need checking before anyone relies on them in 2026.
What the EU decision covered
The approval, as reported by Successful Farming on January 17, 2018 (republished on Agriculture.com), followed a fixed two-step sequence:
- EFSA issued a positive scientific opinion on the soybean event for food and feed use.
- The European Commission accepted that opinion and approved importation of the product.
The article does not give the Commission decision number, the exact authorization date, or any conditions attached to the approval. It also says nothing about labeling, traceability requirements, or how long the authorization remains valid. Those details sit in the official EU and EFSA public records and should be read there, not inferred from a 2018 news story.
Import approval is not cultivation approval
The most common misreading of this story is that the EU has cleared the crop for planting. The report does not say that. It mentions cultivation approvals only in other countries. The table below separates the three activities the article touches on.
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| Activity and place | Status as stated in the January 2018 report | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Import for food and feed, European Union | Approved after a positive EFSA opinion and Commission acceptance | Authorization of cultivation, or the current validity of the decision |
| Cultivation, European Union | Not reported as approved | No status is given in the article, so none can be stated from it |
| Cultivation, United States, Canada, and Brazil | Described as already received by the companies in 2018 | Whether those approvals remain in force today |
What the trait stack does
According to the 2018 report, FG72 × LL55 is tolerant to three herbicide actives:
- Glufosinate, sold under the Liberty brand in the article.
- Glyphosate.
- Isoxaflutole, which the article describes as an HPPD inhibitor.
The article attributes the FG72 component, which it calls Balance GT, to MS Technologies. It says the product was co-developed and marketed under a joint development agreement between MS Technologies and Bayer. It identifies LL55 and the LibertyLink system as Bayer-owned. These are corporate and product claims as reported in 2018. Current ownership, naming and marketing should be confirmed against the companies’ own publications before they are repeated.
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Timeline and herbicide status as reported in 2018
The article contains three forward-looking or status statements that have aged:
- U.S. launch. The first launch was planned for the United States in 2019. The report presents this as a plan. It does not confirm that the launch happened or that seed is available today.
- Balance Bean. The article says this isoxaflutole-based herbicide was not approved for use on soybeans when the story was written, and that EPA registration was expected. Read that as a snapshot from early 2018. It is not evidence of present-day registration, and it is not a recommendation to use the herbicide on soybeans.
- Other approvals. The report names cultivation approvals in the United States, Canada, and Brazil, but it does not give later dates or confirm those approvals are still active.
What the companies said
The article quotes Frank Terhorst, identified as Bayer’s global head of seeds. He said: “Finding the right balance of controlling weeds and managing herbicide resistance continues to be one of the biggest challenges soybean farmers face.”
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He also said: “Gaining approval from the European Commission is a crucial next step in our efforts to provide innovative solutions to farmers worldwide, and we are looking forward to soon getting additional import approvals to meet our 2019 launch.”
These are the company’s statements as printed in 2018. They are not an independent finding that the product is safe, effective, or approved for any particular use.
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- Productive - Chiba Green Soybean germinates in 10-14 days when soil temps are 65-75°F. Plant 1” deep and space 4-6” apart in an area with full sun. This variety will grow 1-3’ tall with a spread of 12-16”. Beans will mature in 65-75 days, plant in USDA zones 3-10.
- Good Eats - Harvest when pods are green and enjoy edamame or allow the pods to dry and shell to eat them boiled or steamed.
- Easy to Grow - Instructions included on each packet. Plus, we are available to answer all your questions. If these seeds don’t germinate, we will happily make it right for you.
- Safe and Sustainable - Our operation is fully solar powered, and Sow Right Seeds has taken the Safe Seed Pledge to sell only fresh Non-GMO heirloom seeds for you and your family.
How to check the current status yourself
Because the 2018 report cannot confirm today’s position, use the following order to verify any current claim:
- Search EFSA’s public register of scientific opinions for the FG72 × LL55 soybean opinion, and note its date and reference.
- Search the European Commission’s records for the GMO food and feed authorization that followed, and check whether it is still listed as valid.
- For the herbicide, search EPA’s pesticide product registration database for Balance Bean and check whether any soybean use is listed on the label.
- Check the companies’ most recent annual reports or product pages for launch status and ownership of the trait and brand names.
Why this matters for personal-finance readers
The January 2018 report contains no share prices, revenue figures, deal values, or market impact. It is a regulatory and product-news item. If you are weighing an investment in Bayer or a related company, the regulatory record above does not tell you whether the business is worth owning. Use the company’s current financial disclosures for that, and treat a 2018 approval as background rather than a recent event.
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- ECONOMIC AND NUTRITIONAL: As the most economically important bean globally, soybeans provide essential vegetable protein for millions and are key ingredients in hundreds of chemical products. A 60-pound bushel of our soybeans seed yields about 11 pounds of crude soybean oil and 47 pounds of soybean meal. Beneficial for producing shelf-stable goods for long-term use.
Any personal-finance decision that depends on the soybean program, such as an agricultural holding or a farm-income assumption, needs current, primary-source data. Nothing in this story supplies it.
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