On 30 Jun 2014, China AQSIQ convened a press conference attended by Deputy Chief of Staff Lu Chunming. During the conference Lu revealed that a total of 1.25 million tons of Syngenta’ MIR 162 maize were rejected in less than one year because transgenic maize has not yet obtained an agricultural GMO safety certificate as required by Chinese law.
AQSIQ revealed that the MIR162 maize was firstly detected in Shenzhen Port in October 2013 and subsequently all other entry ports were ordered to reject or destroy all MIR 162 identified agricultural products. China imported 3.26 million tons of maize and rejected totally 720,000 tons of maize from the United State in the last two months of 2013 accounting for about 22.1% of China’s total maize imports.
Syngenta filed an application for MIR162 with MOA in 2010 and as of 2014 the Maize is still “under review process” . According to Bi Meijia, MoA’s Chief economist and press secretary, Syngenta has supplemented the material and test report repeatedly .According to the MOA the dossier does not adequately substantiate safety and the Ministry has again required Syngenta to supplement data.
According to the “Measures for the Safety Control on Importation of Agricultural GMOs”, MoA should decide whether or not to grant the approval within 270 days of receiving the application. Syngenta’s latest supplementary application was filed in November 2013 and as such should get the result of MoA’s decision in July or August.
Xinhua’s contributing analysis Wang Zhongqiang revealed that China is open to GMO maize importation, but the GMO ingredient must be reviewed and approved in China and the approval process would also affected by trade considerations. Currently, the output and stocks of maize are quite high. In addition, China is seeking more diverse importation sources as the majority of imports were from the United States. In 2011, only the United States, Laos and Burma exported more than 10,000 tons of maize to China. Argentina and Ukraine joined the ranks two years later. In April 2014, China and Brazil signed an agreement on importation of maize bring China’s total imports to 10 million tons per annum making China far less dependent on maize from the United States.
Currently, 12 safety certificates for imported maize are valid:
No. | Certificate No. | Name &Trait(s) | Producer | Purpose | Valid Period |
1 | 2011-001 | MIR604: insect-resistance | Syngenta | processing material | 2011/08/28-2014/08/28 |
2 | 2011-002 | GA21:herbicide-tolerance | Syngenta | processing material | 2011/08/28-2014/08/28 |
3 | 2011-021 | Bt11XGA21: insect-resistance; herbicide-tolerance | Syngenta | processing material | 2011/11/03-2014/11/03 |
4 | 2011-022 | T25: herbicide-tolerance | Bayer CropScience | processing material | 2012/05/08-2015/05/08 |
5 | 2012-013 | MON810: insect-resistance | Monsanto | processing material | 2012/12/20-2015/12/20 |
6 | 2012-014 | MON863: insect-resistance | Monsanto | processing material | 2012/12/20-2015/12/20 |
7 | 2012-016 | TC1507: insect-resistance | DuPont Pioneer Hi-Bred; Dow Agroscience | processing material | 2012/12/20-2015/12/20 |
8 | 2012-017 | 59122: insect-resistance | DuPont Pioneer Hi-Bred; Dow Agroscience | processing material | 2012/12/20-2015/12/20 |
9 | 2012-021 | Bt11 insect-resistance | Syngenta | processing material | 2012/12/20-2015/12/20 |
10 | 2012-022 | Bt176: insect-resistance | Syngenta | processing material | 2012/12/20-2015/12/20 |
11 | 2012-173 | MON87460: drought-resistance | Monsanto | processing material | 2013/05/21-2016/05/21 |
12 | 2012-174 | 3272: quality improvement | Syngenta | processing material | 2013/05/21-2016/05/21 |
Reference Link:
Agro Analysis:Regulation of Agricultural GMOs in China
