Chinese lawmakers are in the process of considering a proposed revision to the country’s Food Safety Law which would include the mandatory labelling of all goods containing Genetically Modified (GM) organisms.
The central government has recently given its approval for the import of GM crops from the US in an attempt to look for cooperation from Washington for the export of high-tech products to China.
The draft revision would require GM foods to be labelled according to regulations covering their processes of production and sales. However, details of the proposed labelling procedure have not been specified yet.
Switzerland-based global agribusiness Syngenta has said on 22 December that it has received a safety certificate from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture for its Viptera corn, known as MIR 162.
The approval would include corn grain and processing byproducts for food and feed use.
Syngenta's announcement was followed by the announcement of Germany-based Bayer CropScience which said that it received its approval for its GM soybean variety known as LL55 Liberty Link from Chinese regulatory authorities on December 19.
Previously, China had also approved the import of DuPont Pioneer's biotech soybeans.
The China Daily quoted deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Rural Development Li Guoxiang as saying that the change in the country's opinion had come about due to an improvement in Sino-US political ties.
Li said: "The loosening of controls on GM grains by China may lead the US government to lower criteria on the exports of some high-tech products to China."
The newspaper further quoted a biotechnology researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Huang Dafang as saying that China already had labelling regulations of GM foods in place, but they are only administrative regulations and not laws.
While there are no mandatory labelling laws for GM foods in the US, the European Union, Japan and South Korea have imposed compulsory labelling and set a maximum level for GM organisms in foods that can be exempt from labelling.
Image: The draft revision would require genetically modified foods to be labeled according to regulations covering their processes of production and sales. Photo: courtesy of Mister GC.
