China releases imports of genetically modified soybeans

Introduction: due to the rising cost of imported soybeans, China's Ministry of Agriculture recently announced the safety approval of the first batch of imported agricultural genetically modified organisms in 2004 A total of 5 agricultural genetically modified strains applied by Monsanto Company of the United States have obtained safety certificates, including soybeans, corn, cotton and other varieties According to the agricultural genetically modified organisms safety management office of the Ministry of agriculture, since the implementation of three supporting regulations in the regulations on the safety management of agricultural genetically modified organisms on March 20, 2002, the office has received 5 overseas research and development companies, including Monsanto, DuPont and Dow Yinong of the United States, Bayer of Germany, Syngenta of Switzerland, etc Application for safety certificate of agricultural genetically modified organisms imported for processing raw materials Among them, 1 is genetically modified soybean, 8 is genetically modified corn, 7 is genetically modified rape and 2 is genetically modified cotton The countries of origin mainly include the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina At present, 7 of the 18 transgenic product lines have completed environmental safety and food safety testing, and the remaining 11 are about to complete technical testing G7q, Ministry of Agriculture organized the national agricultural genetically modified organisms safety committee to evaluate the safety of seven genetically modified crop lines which have completed environmental safety testing and food safety testing Among them, five lines applied by Monsanto Company, i.e gst40-3-2, ga21, MON810, 531 and 1445, have passed the safety evaluation and obtained the safety certificate After the news of g7q came out, the United States quickly made a positive response Monsanto immediately held a press conference to confirm the information and said it hoped to obtain safety certificates for several other genetically modified varieties in the near future The American Soybean Association also praised China's release of imports of genetically modified soybeans Previously, U.S soybean and its products exporters could only rely on temporary safety certification to export these products to China, the association said According to g7q statistics, the United States exported 10.9 million tons of soybeans to China last year, with a total value of $2.8 billion Soybean exports to China account for more than 35% of the total soybean exports of the United States and more than 40% of the total soybean imports of China G7q