China issues list of import GM crops

China issues list of import GM crops

China has so far granted the import of a list of genetically modified (GM) crops including soybean, corn, oilseed rape, cotton and sugar beet, the People's Daily reported on Monday, adding that these plants have to gain a safety certificate issued by Chinese authorities.

This was in a response to public doubt on whether the country has stringent enough standards on what GM crops can be planted domestically and what can be imported.
Cotton, rice, corn and papaya are issued with a valid safety certificate, Xie Jiajian, a research fellow with the Institute of Plant Protection under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), was quoted by the People's Daily as saying on Monday, adding that the certificates can be traced by the public on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture.
However, not all certified food is suitable to be planted for commercial purposes. 
Xie said that in China only cotton and papaya are allowed, meaning that anyone can plant it.
Ahead of certificate issuance, there is a long process. 
"The research and development companies have to first file applications to the State Agricultural GM Crop Bio-safety Committee for review," Yan said, adding that these applications can only be approved after ministerial-level discussions.
Fang Zhouzi, an expert in chemical biology, told the Global Times on Monday that after the company is granted with a certificate, it must apply for a commercial plantation license within the validity period.
"Some crops are proved to be safe, but they are not allowed for commercial use because the seeds are low output, which is not suitable for mass plantation," said Fang. 
Almost all papaya and soybean oil we can see are genetically modified, according to Fang. 
The difference is that papaya is not labeled as GM since it's not packaged food, and soybean oil is labeled in accordance with the country's law, he told the Global Times.
Experts from CAAS also clarified that cherry tomatoes, small pumpkins and small cucumbers are not GM food, in a move to clarify the widespread lists of GM food online.
"Commercial use of GM pimento, which carries an antiviral gene, was once approved by authorities, but it was later marginalized by the market since it has no advantage," said Wu Gang, a CAAS research fellow.
GM food is proved safe, but it is impossible to have food that is absolutely safe, Fang said. Global Times

In Argentina, local residents raise concerns about reliance on GMO crops

Soy beans and soy derivatives make up about 25 percent of Argentina’s exports, and over 90 percent of the country’s soy crops are genetically modified.  Some activists say that these genetically modified plants and the herbicides that accompany them hurt both environmental and human health. But soy farmers and multinational agricultural companies have substantial political clout in Argentina, so environmentalists are struggling to make their voices heard. From Buenos Aires, FSRN’s Eilís O’Neill. 

INDIA: Pawar opposes GM trial freeze

Pawar opposes GM trial freeze Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today spoke against any freeze on trials of genetically modified crops, as recommended in mid-July by a Supreme Court-appointed technical expert committee. The committee had identified flaws in India’s existing regulatory system that governs genetically modified (GM) crops and called for an indefinite moratorium on GM food crop trials until the regulatory system was fixed. Pawar said the recommendation had unnerved the 3,000-odd scientists of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research who are conducting transgenic research on various food crops. He added that banning the trials would hurt the country, which needed to increase production and productivity to meet the growing demands on its finite land resources. The court had formed the committee, made up by scientists from top public research laboratories and academic institutions, while hearing a public interest litigation seeking such a moratorium. The government is the respondent and the hearings are continuing. The only note of dissent had come from committee member R.S. Paroda, a former Indian Council of Agriculture Research director. He had argued that if the panel’s suggestions were accepted, two decades of research on GM crops by public institutions would go waste. Today, Pawar echoed Paroda’s views during an interaction with reporters here, while replying to a question on the just-passed food security law. The minister, who initially had reservations about the bill, said he wholeheartedly backed the law because it would help fight malnutrition among children. “An FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation, a United Nations body) report says nearly 74 per cent of Indian children suffer from malnutrition. This legislation is therefore important to address this issue,” he said. Pawar had arrived here on a three-day visit to assess the crop damage in rain-ravaged Vidarbha. He said the Centre would do everything to help the state provide financial aid to the region’s farmers. Telegraph