China considers new biotechnology law
agricultural production to protect people's health and the
environment, state media said on Monday, Reuters reports.
China is considering a law to regulate the use of biotechnology in agricultural production to protect people's health and the environment, state media said on Monday, Reuters reports.
Such a law would ensure such biotechnology would undergo regular inspections to reduce harm to the ecosystem, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. It would also require risk evaluations on the mass production of transgenic or genetically modified foods to protect human health.
"Such a law is urgent to ensure the country's overall safety in a wide range covering agriculture, pharmaceuticals, trade and the environment," the China Daily quoted an official from the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) as saying.
The administration is working with several ministries on the proposed law and planned to pass it to the National People's Congress, China's parliament, for ratification, the paper said. The law would also mean rules would be set for inspecting imports including species alien to China like transgenic seeds.
Chinese biotech rules, announced last year but detailed in January, clouded trade relations with the United States. Beijing required GMO product exporters to apply for certificates saying goods were harmless to humans, animals or the environment.
US officials claimed the import rules were based more on trade protectionism rather than scientific concerns. Confusion over the rules, which were due to go into effect on 20 March, brought new orders of US cargoes of soybeans - 70 per cent of which are bio-engineered - to a virtual halt as buyers worried cargoes might not be approved. In March, the United States struck a deal with China in which Beijing announced temporary measures for GMO imports that required less paperwork and shorter approvals.
It was not immediately clear whether the proposed law might be linked to the rules on GMO certificates. China had supported the development of biotechnology to enhance food production, pharmaceuticals and environmental conservation, the China Daily said without elaborating. China's Ministry of Agriculture drafted regulations earlier this year requiring all imported GMO products to be clearly labelled.
