Why give the green light to U.S. genetically modified products

Introduction: "in the process of negotiations with the Americans, what really determines our decision is the demand for soybeans in the domestic market." China issued a two-year "Interim certification" management measure for the import of foreign genetically modified products, which officially ended on April 21 this year, and issued a long-term biosafety certificate instead "From now on, we will carry out normal management on the import of genetically modified products in accordance with international practices," an official of the Ministry of agriculture, who was reluctant to give his name, told outlook Oriental weekly Every step we take is done in accordance with WTO rules " After waiting two years for the first long-term safety certificate for genetically modified products, the Chinese government finally issued a biosafety certificate for five kinds of genetically modified products exported by the United States to China in February this year, which greatly delighted the leaders of the American agricultural sector According to the Ministry of agriculture, the five GM products approved to enter China: one soybean, two corn and two cotton, are products of Monsanto, an American GM seed company Monsanto applied to China for seven genetically modified products, and five of them obtained biosafety certificates This is the first time that the Chinese government has issued a long-term biosafety certificate for imported genetically modified products The certificate is not as "permanent" as some reports say The validity period of the certificate for genetically modified soybeans and corn is 3 years, and for cotton is 5 years Luo heck, President of the American Soybean Association, said China's final decision to issue a safety certificate for genetically modified products in the United States "is good news for American farmers", adding that the Chinese government's "action not only stabilizes the soybean market in the United States, but also ensures the price stability of meat, fish, eggs and edible oil for Chinese consumers" However, Shi Pengxiang, head of Greenpeace China, an environmental group, disagreed Greenpeace has tried to persuade the Chinese government to restrict genetically modified products in the world's largest soybean market Due to the controversy on whether transgene will harm human health and environmental safety, its products have been strongly resisted in Europe and many other countries But in China, there is not a folk movement against genetically modified products, except for individual consumers' requirements to mark genetically modified products In fact, apart from the "green peace" protests in China, the Chinese government's approval of the import of U.S transition products has not caused much controversy or strong social repercussions This frustrated Shi Because he is worried that the green light release means a more favorable environment for us genetically modified products to enter China "The safety of genetically modified organisms is not just a concern for scientists and policymakers," he said Transgene is likely to harm our social environment and living environment " Some domestic media asserted that it was a compromise made by China to balance its trade surplus with the United States to allow us genetically modified products to enter In 2003, the trade surplus between the two countries reached US $130 billion There is no compromise with the United States Duan Wude, director of the center for science and technology development of the Ministry of agriculture, denied the speculation "There is no compromise in the negotiation with the Americans," he told Oriental Outlook "What really drives our decision is the demand for soybeans in the domestic market." Although China is the origin of soybeans, Duan said, there has been a shortage of soybeans in China On the one hand, with the rapid development of animal husbandry, the demand for soybean meal for feed has increased dramatically; on the other hand, with the improvement of people's living standard, the consumption of vegetable oil has increased According to figures released by the genetic Office of the Ministry of agriculture, China's soybean import has increased from 4 million tons in 1999 to 20.74 million tons in 2003 Qu Xiaoping, a reporter with CCTV in New York, reported that China is the first importer of us soybeans, with 15% of us soybeans revenue coming from China "If we don't import soybeans from the United States, we will import soyoil In this way, the profits will be lost " Paragraph said China has little choice as to whether to import genetically modified soybeans Because in the international soybean trade market, transgenic soybean accounts for 90% These soybeans are mainly from the United States, Brazil and Argentina In fact, China is very careful to release us soybeans An official of the Ministry of agriculture, who declined to be named, said that before the approval of the safety certificate, all imports of genetically modified products were carried out in strict accordance with the announcement on Interim Measures for safety management of genetically modified agricultural products issued by the Ministry of agriculture in 2002 According to the announcement, all imported agricultural base conversion products used as processing raw materials must apply to the Ministry of agriculture and the AQSIQ for "temporary certification" two months in advance; the application materials include packaging samples, technical evaluation of product edible and nutritional quality, and safety certification report For biosafety reasons, China had to wait two years for Monsanto to apply for a security certificate Duan said, "no one can guarantee that none of the genetically modified soybeans will fall into the field So, we have to do a field safety test " An official from the genetic Office of the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that before the approval of Monsanto's application for safety certification, China had conducted field tests to assess the impact of the transgene on the environment The test results show that transgenic pollution is almost equal to zero Genetically modified technology is the gospel to solve the problem of food and clothing The safety certificate issued by the Chinese government to Monsanto clearly stipulates that importers and exporters must ensure that genetically modified soybeans can only be used as processing materials and strictly prevent their environmental release However, Shi Pengxiang of "green peace" is not sure about this "When GM soybeans come in, it's hard to control where they go," he said "Every soybean is a seed Once it is planted in the field, it may cross with wild soybean or traditional soybean, resulting in gene pollution " An experiment being carried out by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences shows that such hybridization is possible Qiu Lijuan, a senior researcher of the Institute and director of the world soybean association, said that there are two results of hybridization: one is that wild soybeans may produce herbicide resistant genes and evolve into super weeds that cannot be eliminated; the other is that plant scientists can no longer use the genes of wild soybeans to cultivate new soybean varieties Yang Qingwen, a researcher at the Institute of crop science at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that's why the Chinese government has been banning the cultivation of genetically modified crops where wild soybeans, traditional rice and other local crops grow In Heilongjiang, an important soybean producing area in China, the local government has ordered that genetically modified soybeans not be allowed to enter the province Yang said that despite the fierce debate caused by GM in the international community, China must invest financial resources in the research and development of GM due to the pressure of population and the technical blockade of foreign companies Those overseas companies only want to sell genetically modified products to China, rather than transfer technology The 10th Five Year Plan (2001-2005), which is currently being implemented, shows that the central government's investment in agricultural bioscience has increased five times compared with the previous five year plan At the end of 2005, the investment will reach 500 million US dollars Transgenic technology is seen by many as a good news for China to solve the problem of food and clothing for its 1.3 billion people According to the Ministry of agriculture, of the 125 million hectares of cultivated land in the country, only 2.8 million hectares are currently planted with genetically modified crops Some experts hope that about half of China's arable land will be planted with genetically modified crops in the next 10 years The Chinese government is still very cautious about genetically modified crops, and there are restrictions on their environmental release Xue Dayuan, deputy director of the implementation of the Convention on biological diversity and Biosafety Management Office of the State Environmental Protection Administration, said that so far, China has only approved the cultivation of 59 varieties of six genetically modified crops, mainly Bt cotton No major food crops, such as rice and soybeans, have been approved for large-scale cultivation To protect the public's right to know and choose until the wave of EU's opposition to genetically modified crops spread to China, domestic consumers seem to have been less concerned about the impact of genetically modified crops on biosafety Now, more and more people begin to realize that the right to know of ordinary people should be respected In 2003, Greenpeace commissioned Zhongshan University in Guangzhou to investigate the attitudes of urban consumers towards genetically modified products The survey, which was first conducted in mainland China, showed that the vast majority of 1000 consumers surveyed were willing to choose genetically modified food 87% of them think that genetically modified food should be labeled With the logo, consumers can fulfill their right to choose Half of those surveyed were willing to pay a higher price for non GM products After a civil case, the public's concern about biosafety has risen sharply Last year, Zhu Yanling, a Shanghai consumer, sued Nestle for violating its right to know because the company did not mark its chocolate drink as containing genetically modified products The middle-aged mother claimed only twice the amount she spent: 13.6 yuan Small claims are symbolic She said that the purpose of prosecution is not for money, but for consumers' right to know and choice Some experts say that Nestle's failure to mark genetically modified ingredients on the product does not violate Chinese law However, Zhu Yanling won public support Some consumers began to boycott Nestle's products in protest at its different double standards in Europe and China In an official document to Greenpeace China last year, 32 multinationals, including Lipton, Wrigley, Wyeth and Maxon, announced that they would not sell genetically modified products in China, Mr Shi said.