Cargill warns against premature marketing of GMO seeds

* Early commercialization of biotech seeds hot debate

* Syngenta's biotech corn in the spotlight this fall

By Christine Stebbins

CHICAGO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Distributing biotech seeds to American farmers before they are approved in major grain export markets is not good for U.S. agriculture, an executive with agribusiness giant Cargill Incsaid on Tuesday.

"We do not support the commercialization of GM traits ahead of major market approvals," Randal Giroux, vice president of food safety for Cargill, told the members of the National Grain and Feed Association, the largest U.S. grain group, at a meeting.

"We don't think it's good for U.S. agriculture. We think that we should wait for the commercialization of these traits until we have major market approvals," Giroux said.

Cargill and other U.S. processors and exporters became hypersensitive to issues related to GMO corn after a variety that was not approved for food use -- known as Starlink -- was discovered in a U.S. shipment to Japan in 2000. Sales to the biggest U.S. customers at the time, Japan and South Korea, dried up overnight.

The subsequent tracing, sorting, testing, separating and certifying of GMO cost the industry millions of dollars.

It can take just one kernel of corn not approved for use in a given market to contaminate an entire grain shipment, thus preventing foreign buyers from unloading the vessel.