Heilongjiang province, the bread basket of north-east China, has banned the planting of genetically modified (GM) crops โย the countryโs first such ban at the provincial level. Given that Heilongjiang producesย one tenthย of Chinaโs staple food crops, the move has sparked controversy and raised questions about the future of GMย foods policy in the worldโs biggest consumer market.
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China has neither officially approved the planting of GM corn, rice or soya nor banned it outright. So far, no GM staple crops have been granted aย licenseย for commercial planting. However, China does allow the import of 80 different types of GM product for use in food processing, and large quantities of GM corn and soya are regularly imported.
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Chinaโs Food Safety Law currently requires that GM food products be clearly labelledย but lax law enforcement means that cheap unlabelled imported soya is dominating the Chinese market and damaging the interests of non-GM soya farmers and processors.
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So far there are no signs that Chinaโs central government objects to Heilongjiangโs move. But it is worth noting that Beijing is promoting the commercialisation of GM crops.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:ย Local and central government differ over GMO policy
