AT CLOSING NEWS.

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed that food developers be required "to notify FDA at least 120 days in advance of their intent to market a food or animal feed developed through biotechnology and to provide information to demonstrate that the product is as safe as its conventional counterpart." Developers of food and feed developed through biotechnology now participate in a voluntary consultation program with FDA. To date, all such food and feed marketed in the United States have gone through the consultation program before they have entered the market.

DeKalb Choice Genetics, St. Louis, has achieved a significant scientific breakthrough with its construction of a physical map covering the entire swine genome. This is the first time this level of genetic information has been mapped for the whole genome of a livestock species. When used with the extensive core genomic technologies assembled by Monsanto, this physical map will enable researchers to advance genetic progress in traditional swine breeding at a rapid rate.

Sumitomo Chemical Co., parent company for both Valent U.S.A. Corp. and Valent BioSciences Corp. (VBC), decided that VBC sales and local marketing functions in North America, except for forestry and public health products, will become the responsibility of Valent U.S.A. VBC, formerly the Ag Specialties Business of Abbott Laboratories, will remain an independent global manufacturer and supplier of all VBC-branded products. VBC also will serve as Sumitomo's center for worldwide discovery, acquisition, development and commercialization of all biological-/biorational-based products.

Verdisys Inc., a Fresno, Calif.-based information technology enabler for the ag industry, has entered into an agreement with the American Soybean Association, St. Louis, to promote e-commerce among soybean growers nationwide. ASA is using technology from Verdisys that enables a comprehensive source of commodity information customized for soybean growers. Through its relationship with ASA, Verdisys will offer production-specific technology applications to individual soybean growers/including database services and crop-planning tools.

Aventis CropScience, Lyon, France, has reached agreements on the sale of its active ingredients guazatine and clofentezine to Israeli company Makhteshim-Agan Industries. This divestment is another step in a process which aims to streamline the Aventis CropScience product portfolio and to focus on the newer, more profitable products. Clofentezine is an acaricide (insecticide) known as Apollo and Acaristop for use in fruit trees and horticulture. Guazatine is a fungicide for use in cereals mainly in Europe and for post-harvest treatment in citrus crops in several countries around the world.