US soybean industry officials will hold talks with China on the genetically modified regulations

Lead: Reuters news on Tuesday, the head of the US soybean industry will hold talks with Chinese government officials this week to clarify China's latest regulations on genetically modified food, an official from the American Soybean Association said Since the regulations were promulgated by the State Council of China on June 6 and came into force on that day, there have been no specific implementation rules, and the export of American soybeans to China has slowed down China is the number one importer of American soybeans According to Jill Griffith, Asia president of the American Soybean Association (ASA), Bart Ruth, President of the ASA, and Doug Magnus, President of the United Soybean Association (USB), will meet with Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing "Shanghai will have a small-scale meeting, while Beijing will have a larger one," Griffith told Reuters We will express our concern about the timing and details of the implementation of the new regulations " "We will also say that we support the early implementation of the new regulations in a way that does not harm us soybean exports to China," he said The framework of the new regulations requires the provision of safety certificates indicating that genetically modified products are not harmful to humans, animals and the environment Imported genetically modified food will also need to be labeled specifically In July, the European Union issued strict regulations on genetically modified organisms derived food, requiring labeling and providing records of the origin of the production farms that can be traced Consumers and environmental groups in Asia and Europe are opposed to genetically modified foods because they believe that more research is needed to ensure that they are safe Almost a year ago, an unauthorized use of genetically modified corn entered the food circulation chain of the United States, leading to a large number of food recalls, such as tortillas, from food shelves, and slowing the export of American corn to Japan Japan is the number one buyer of American corn Chicago soybean futures fell sharply on Thursday after Belgian scientists found that Roundup Ready contained an unrecognized DNA fragment The genetically modified soybean is produced by biotechnology giant Monsanto However, one scientist who discovered the DNA fragment said there was no evidence that the foreign DNA fragment could lead to any unknown effect, such as a possible allergic reaction in humans According to estimates provided by the U.S Department of agriculture, almost 70% of Soybeans Planted in the United States are genetically modified In the 2000 / 01 market year ended August 31, China has so far purchased 5.8 million tons of us soybeans, up from 5.1 million tons in the same period last year The U.S Department of Agriculture estimates that China will import 14.5 million tons of soybeans from all sources between September 2001 and August 2002, up from 13.2 million tons in 2000 / 01 China's demand for U.S soybeans has been sluggish since the promulgation of new regulations on genetically modified organisms, exporters say, because of uncertainty about the strength of the new regulations Griffith said U.S soybean exporters are concerned about the new rules, adding that the industry hopes USDA and U.S trade negotiators will ensure that the matter can be resolved quickly "Our exporters may lose sales, at least in the short term," he said In my opinion, shipment has been slowing down " He added that exporters were reluctant to change the date of the signed contract until June 6 to circumvent the regulation.