Trends in global approvals of biotech crops (1992–2014)

Figures & data

TABLE 1. Cultivation approvals from 1992 to 2014

		Cultivation Approvals
Rank	Country	1992–2003	2004–2014	Total
1	United States	96	60	156
2	Canada	56	67	123
3	Japan	5	115	120
4	Brazil^*	1	38	39
5	Argentina^*	7	29	36
6	Australia	21	11	32
7	South Africa^*	10	9	19
8	Uruguay^*	2	16	18
9	Colombia^*	1	13	14
10	Costa Rica^*	1	14	15
11	Paraguay^*	0	14	14
12	Philippines^*	1	12	13
13	China^*	8	4	12
14	Mexico^*	6	6	12
15	European Union (28)	6	1	7
16	Honduras^*	2	3	5
17	India^*	1	4	5
18	Chile^*	0	4	4
19	Bangladesh^*	0	1	1
20	Bolivia^*	0	1	1
21	Burkina Faso^*	0	1	1
22	Egypt^*	0	1	1
23	Iran^*	0	1	1
24	Myanmar^*	0	1	1
25	Pakistan^*	0	1	1
26	Panama^*	0	1	1
27	South Korea	0	1	1
28	Cuba^*	0	1	1
29	Sudan^*	0	1	1
	Total	224	431	655

* Developing Countries

Figure 1. Number of countries that issued approvals (1992–2014).

TABLE 2. Food approvals from 1992–2014

		Food Approvals
Rank	Country	1992–2003	2004–2014	Total
1	Japan	58	129	187
2	USA	108	62	170
3	Mexico^*	40	107	147
4	Canada	73	48	121
5	South Korea	13	98	111
6	New Zealand	43	46	89
7	Australia	41	46	87
8	Philippines^*	19	64	83
9	Taiwan	10	71	81
10	European Union	17	50	67
11	South Africa^*	19	39	58
12	Columbia^*	3	52	55
13	China^*	23	27	50
14	Brazil^*	1	39	40
15	Argentina^*	7	31	38
16	Russian Federation^*	0	21	21
17	Singapore	0	18	18
18	Thailand^*	0	15	15
19	Indonesia^*	0	12	12
20	Malaysia^*	0	12	12
21	Uruguay^*	2	9	11
22	Paraguay^*	0	10	10
23	India^*	0	5	5
24	Vietnam^*	0	5	5
25	Switzerland	3	1	4
26	Honduras^*	0	3	3
27	Bangladesh^*	0	1	1
28	Bolivia^*	0	1	1
29	Burkina Faso^*	0	1	1
30	Iran^*	0	1	1
31	Panama^*	0	1	1
Total	480	1025	1505

* Developing countries

TABLE 3. Feed approvals granted in 1992–2014

		Food Approvals
Rank	Country	1992–2003	2004–2014	Total
1	Japan	48	123	171
2	USA	105	62	167
3	Canada	67	49	116
4	South Korea	0	99	99
5	Philippines^*	19	64	83
6	European Union	15	51	66
7	South Africa^*	19	39	58
8	China^*	22	29	51
9	Columbia^*	1	48	49
10	Brazil^*	1	39	40
11	Argentina^*	7	30	37
12	Turkey^*	0	19	19
13	Russian Federation^*	0	17	17
14	Malaysia^*	0	12	12
15	Paraguay^*	0	9	9
16	Uruguay^*	2	7	9
17	Mexico^*	0	6	6
18	India^*	0	5	5
19	Vietnam^*	0	5	5
20	Switzerland	3	1	4
21	Australia	0	3	3
22	Singapore	0	2	2
23	Bolivia^*	0	1	1
24	Burkina Faso^*	0	1	1
25	Honduras^*	0	1	1
26	Indonesia^*	0	1	1
27	Iran^*	0	1	1
28	New Zealand	0	1	1
Total	309	725	1034

* Developing countries

Figure 2. Number of GM approvals from 1992–2014.

Figure 3. Number of biotech crops and events approved from 1992–2014.

Figure 4. Number of transgenic events per crop.

TABLE 4. Traits of GM crops approved in 23 years

	1992–2003		2004–2014
Trait	Crops	Number of Events*	Crops	Number of Events*
Insect Resistance (8 crops)
Coleopteran Resistance	Maize	3	Maize	67
	Potato	28	Potato	10
Lepidopteran Resistance	Cotton	14	Cotton	33
	Maize	13	Eggplant	1
	Poplar	2	Maize	91
	Tomato	1	Rice	3
			Soybean	5
Multiple Insect Resistance	Poplar	1	Maize	3
	Cotton	1
Total 276		63		213
Herbicide Tolerance (12 crops)
Glyphosate Tolerance	Argentine Canola	2	Alfalfa	3
	Cotton	4	A. Canola	8
	Creeping bentgrass	1	Cotton	15
	Maize	8	Maize	75
	Potato	3	Potato	1
	Polish Canola	3	Soybean	14
	Soybean	1	Sugarbeet	1
			Wheat	1
Glufosinate Tolerance	A. Canola	15	A. Canola	12
	Cotton	1	Cotton	16
	Maize	13	Maize	85
	P. Canola	1	Soybean	7
	Soybean	7	Rice	2
	Rice	2
Oxynil Tolerance	A. Canola	1	A. Canola	1
	Cotton	10
Sulfunyl Tolerance	Flax	1	Flax	1
	Cotton	1	Maize	4
			Soybean	3
Mesotrione Tolerance			Soybean	1
2–4 D Tolerance			Cotton	1
			Maize	5
			Soybean	3
Dicamba Tolerance			Cotton	2
			Soybean	1
Total 336		74		262
Modified Product Quality (8 crops)
Amylose Content			Maize	10
			Potato	1
Altered Lignin Production			Alfalfa	1
Phytase Production	A. Canola	5	Maize	1
Modified Oil	A. Canola	2	Soybean	7
	Soybean	1
Modified Lysine	Maize	1	Maize	1
Reduced Acrylamide Potential			Potato	10
Black Spot Bruising Tolerance			Potato	10
Modified Carbohydrates			Potato	9
Anti-allergy Pollen			Rice	1
Nicotine Reduction	Tobacco	1
Delayed Fruit Softening	Tomato	1
Total 62		11		51
Pollination Control (3 crops)
Male Sterility	A. Canola	9	A. Canola	7
	Maize	5	Maize	1
	Chicory	3
Fertility Restorer	Canola	10	Canola	8
			Maize	1
Total 44		27		17
Disease Resistance (8 crops)
Bean Golden Mosaic Virus			Bean	1
Papaya Ringspot Virus	Papaya	1	Papaya	3
Plum Pox Virus			Plum	1
Potato Virus Y	Potato	7	Potato	3
Potato Leaf Roll Virus	Potato	7	Potato	3
Cucumber Mosaic Virus	Squash	1
	Sweet Pepper	1
	Tomato	1
Zucchini Mosaic Virus	Squash	2
Watermelon Mosaic Virus	Squash	2
Total 34		23		11
Stress Tolerance (1 crop)
Drought Tolerance			Maize	4
			Sugarcane	3
Total 7				7
Altered Growth /Yield (1 crop)
Enhanced Photosynthesis			Soybean	1

Figure 5. Distribution of single and stacked events per year.

Figure 6. Trait distribution of approved events. Legend: HT, Herbicide Tolerance; IR, Insect Resistance; PQ, Plant Quality; DR, Disease Resistance; PC, Pollination Control; ST, Stress Tolerance; AGY, Altered Growth/Yield and Others: Altered Growth (0.27%), Stress Tolerance (1.08%), Pollination Control (0.81%), HT + ST (0.27%), IR + PQ (0.54%), HT + IR + ST (0.54%), HT + IR + DR (0.81%), HT + IR + PQ (1.6%).

Figure 7. Distribution of approvals for cultivation per trait category.