U.S. lawmakers are pushing for USDA to have a formal role in considering ChemChina's planned takeover of Switzerland's Syngenta.  Sen. Chuck Grassley says the $43 billion takeover of Syngenta could pose risks to the security of America’s food supply. Further, USDA has previously voiced concern over the deal for Syngenta. Grassley told the Wall Street Journal a bipartisan group of senators would seek a formal role for USDA as the Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. carries out a national security review of the proposed deal.

The ag ministry for France says additional testing confirmed a suspected bovine spongiform encephalopathy case. The European Union’s reference laboratory confirmed that the animal died from BSE. This will compromise France's BSE risk status with the World Organization for Animal Health and will likely lead to bans on exports from the country in some markets. This is the third single case of BSE detected in Europe since 2015. The ministry has said that the detection of this isolated case demonstrates the effectiveness of France’s monitoring system.

More From 94.5 KATS