China has published trial rules for the approval of gene-edited plants, paving the way for faster improvements to crops as it seeks to bolster its food security.
Beijing has also recently passed new regulations that set out a clear path for approval for genetically modified (GM)crops.
But while it has deliberated for years whether to allow planting of GM crops to feed its people and livestock, it is ahead of some nations in outlining clear and relatively fast procedures for gene-edited crops.
“Given the strong investment of the Chinese government in genome editing, we expect the release of a relatively open policy in the coming years,” Rabobank wrote in a December report.
China’s research institutes have already published more research on market-oriented gene-edited crops than any other country, it added.
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The draft rules stipulate that once gene-edited plants have completed pilot trials, a production certificate can be applied for, skipping the lengthy field trials required for the approval of a GM plant.
That means it could take only a year or two to get approval for a gene-edited plant, said Han [Gengchen, chairman of seed company Origin Agritech], compared with around six years for GM ones.
