BASF, the world's largest chemical maker, is weeks away from challenging European resistance to genetically modified plants with a potato that it hopes will reap profit and produce share gains along with other bioengineered crops.
The BASF Amflora potato, designed for use as an industrial starch, would be the first genetically modified product cleared for cultivation in the European Union for almost a decade and might generate annual profits of €30 million, or $44 million. Approval by the European Commission would help BASF push other commodities through its biotechnology pipeline, including a blight-resistant potato.
The European Commission, the EU's regulatory arm, aims to allow cultivation of the potato in the bloc before year-end after national governments were split. The commission had urged governments to endorse its authorization proposal
