AgbioInvestor’s free-to-access service AgbioInvestor GM Monitor has identified the following GM trait approvals up to April 2025. Expanded details on these recently approved traits, as well as for approvals dating back as far as 1992, can be found on AgbioInvestor’s GM Monitor website.

The Chinese company Beijing DabeiNong Biotechnology (BDN) received approval for import use, as food/feed, and for commercial use in cultivation for three soybean traits in Uruguay.

DBN focuses mainly on developing traits for maize and soybean and currently has a total of eight traits for these crops that have been approved for cultivation. Out of these eights traits four are soybean traits (DBN8002, DBN9004, DBN8002 x DBN9004 and DBN8205) and four are maize traits (DBN3601T, DBN9501, DBN9858 and DBN9936). All eight traits have been approved for use in China, with three of the soybean transformation events have received further cultivation approvals in other countries, namely Brazil and Argentina. The commercialisation process in South America has been facilitated through a partnership with Bioceres and the Rosario Technological Center (Indear), with Indear submitting the traits to the respective regulatory bodies for approval in both Argentina and Brazil.

DBN8002, which confers resistance to lepidopteran insect pests, including fall armyworm and beet armyworm, and tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate, DBN9004, which confers tolerance to the herbicides glufosinate and glyphosate and DBN9004 x DBN8002 which confers resistance to lepidopteran insect pests and tolerance to the herbicides glufosinate and glyphosate have most recently received commercial approval in Uruguay (see AgbioNews Apr 3, 2025). All three transformation events have previously received cultivation approval in Argentina, while Brazil has granted commercial authorisation to DBN9004 and DBN8002.

Regarding import approval for food/feed uses the events DBN8002 and DBN9004 have previously been approved in Brazil, and most recently Uruguay approved DBN8002, DBN9004, DBN8002 x DBN9004 for food/feed use. In 2021 the USA granted approval for the two maize traits DBN9858 and DBN9936, a stacked trait and a herbicide tolerant trait respectively. DBN9858 confers tolerance to the herbicides glufosinate and glyphosate, and DBN9936 confers resistance to lepidopteran insect pests and tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate. DBN has not yet received cultivation approval for any of its maize traits outside of China.