Ministry of Agriculture Suspends Import of a Foreign Genetically Modified Soybean Citing Public Opinion

A certain genetically modified soybean undergoing import approval has had its approval suspended by the Ministry of Agriculture, due to the “low public acceptance” of genetically modified foods.

Foreign media previously reported that China's Ministry of Agriculture recently rejected the approval of an imported genetically modified soybean citing public opinion. On October 17, Ministry of Agriculture officials responded that during the approval process, the “issue of public acceptance” is indeed taken into consideration.

According to a September 26 report by Reuters, two sources said that a certain genetically modified soybean undergoing import approval had its approval suspended by the Ministry of Agriculture due to the “low public acceptance” of genetically modified foods. It was said that this was the first time China had used this reason, and that “previously, the Ministry of Agriculture would reject a new product on the grounds of insufficient relevant data.”

On October 17, Kou Jianping, Director of the Division of Genetically Modified Organism Safety Management and Intellectual Property under the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the Ministry of Agriculture, was asked about the authenticity of this news while communicating with the media in Wuhan. Kou Jianping did not directly confirm it, but responded that different countries have different approaches to the safety regulation of genetically modified organisms. Some countries such as the United States manage based on purely scientific principles, and only lift regulation once there are no problems for the public, whereas China's Ministry of Agriculture needs to consider all aspects of factors during approval.

“Science is a foundation, but we also need to comprehensively consider social issues, trade issues, the issue of public acceptance, and also consider comprehensive factors,” Kou Jianping said.

After the Reuters report was published at the end of September, it aroused widespread attention in the industry, because if the news were true, it would mean that it has become more difficult for foreign genetically modified varieties to enter China: if a product is rejected for import simply because the submitted data is insufficient, the relevant data can be supplemented; but if it is because of low public acceptance, changing this would be very difficult.

Reuters did not disclose which variety of genetically modified soybean had its import suspended this time. But not long afterward, Richard Breum, a spokesperson for Bayer CropScience, revealed in an interview that the Ministry of Agriculture notified the company at the end of August to “suspend the import approval for its Liberty Link genetically modified soybean.” The spokesperson said, “Of course we are very disappointed,” but “the Chinese government did not request further investigation or more information.”

Kou Jianping told The Paper that although current genetically modified research does not yet have yield-increasing genes, insect-resistant genetically modified crops can eliminate the use of herbicides and will indirectly increase yield.