Ministry of health: no need to apply for GME import license this year

Lead: Beijing, June 28 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of health on Friday confirmed that it will not issue import licenses for genetically modified food after the Ministry of health's genetically modified regulations take effect on July 1 Chinese soybean importers don't need to obtain a genetically modified import license from the Ministry of health before January 1 next year, so South American and American soybeans can be shipped to China unimpeded at least this year, traders said Thursday "We will not issue import licenses to anyone," said an official of the regulatory office of the Ministry of health, which is responsible for drafting the genetically modified regulations "We have just published a catalog that includes certified genes contained in food, which are proved to be safe for consumption, production and import." Officials said details of the Ministry's genetically modified regulations would be released by July 1, which would cover soybeans imported by crushing plants And the market has been worried that the new regulations of the Ministry of health will hinder the export of soybeans and soybean oil from the United States and South America to China The Ministry of health will accept applications for GM safety after July 1, but this year's shipments of GM soybeans will not be affected by the regulations, officials said The regulations issued by the Ministry of health are also China's second set of genetically modified regulations, and the first set of regulations issued by the Ministry of agriculture last June brought China's soybean trade to a temporary halt Less than two weeks before the regulations of the Ministry of agriculture came into force on March 20 this year, China and the United States reached an interim agreement to pave the way for the resumption of soybean trade At the beginning of June, the first ship of imported soybeans arrived in China since China's genetically modified regulations came into effect, and four to five ships of soybeans have been unloaded in China since then According to the China Grain and oil information center, 16 ships of South American soybeans are expected to arrive at the end of June to the beginning of July, reaching 900000 tons.