AQSIQ eases restrictions on approval of soybean import license

Introduction: AQSIQ has allowed Chinese soybean importers to apply for import licenses to local quality inspection authorities without providing import safety certificates, so as to speed up the approval process and prevent soybean import from being cut off during the transitional period of GM regulations It is said that some large oil plants in China began to apply for quality inspection licenses at least two or three weeks ago, which is earlier than the time when they obtained the GM safety certificate and identification certificate At the end of February this year, China's Ministry of Agriculture issued regulations on the import of genetically modified products with a longer validity period, requiring foreign exporters and domestic importers to apply for safety certificates and identification certificates with a validity period of six months before shipping the goods According to the regulations, Chinese importers must produce a GM safety certificate before applying to AQSIQ for a quality inspection license In March, the market worried that after the expiration of the old import license on April 20, the importers might not be able to obtain the new quality inspection import license in time, leading to the interruption of soybean import Affected by this, China's soybean market price has increased significantly in recent period However, China's soybean imports are expected to remain low between March and April Among them, 22 ships of about 1.2 million tons of imported soybeans arrived in March, while the arrival in April may be further reduced to 1 million tons According to Chinese customs data, 4.07 million tons of soybeans were imported between March and April 2003.