China will extend the transitional period of transgenes by 9 months

Lead: Reuters October 10 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of agriculture is expected to extend the Interim Measures for nine months after the expiry of the December 20 interim agreement on genetically modified regulations, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday It is rumoured that China will extend the implementation of the genetically modified regulations for nine months, so that the annual soybean trade between China and the United States worth 1 billion US dollars can be carried out normally According to industry insiders, it's better to believe the rumor, but he didn't specify Both the Department of agriculture and U.S officials declined to comment In September, Alan Johnson, chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S trade negotiator's office, said Chinese officials assured him that the Chinese government would announce the extension before the meeting between the two heads of state on October 25 Industry sources said Thursday that an extension could be announced this week 59r China, as the world's largest soybean importer, issued a genetically modified regulation in June last year, which brought the export of soybeans from the United States and South America to China to a standstill In March, China announced an interim measure to shorten the time required to apply for import permission for genetically modified organisms, which expires on December 20 59r China will import 12.5 million tons of soybeans in 2002 / 03 (October September), up from 10.2 million tons last year, according to state grain and oil information on Wednesday Analysts at the center said imports will return to normal this year, following a reduction in soybean imports in 2001 / 02 due to the impact of the implementation of GM regulations.