China has invested heavily in plant breeding using gene transfer technology, but has so far been slow to approve genetically-modified varieties.
The government is now proposing changes to make it easier to get those varieties to market and has given until Dec. 12 for comment on its proposals.
Among the many proposed changes, a GM trait applied to an already approved hybrid would only need to undergo a one-year production trial before receiving approval, rather than going through the full round of trials needed for new varieties.
“I believe that this is a significant step for GMO commercialization,” said Han Gengchen, chairman of Origin Agritech, the first Chinese company to develop GM corn crops.
“It clarifies the procedures for GMO variety approvals and simplifies the process. It will accelerate GMO corn commercial production,” he told Reuters news agency.
The proposals came after last week’s plenum, or closed-door meeting of more than 300 top leaders of the party’s Central Committee.
It’s ironic that China has been a leader in GMO research and that it allowed imports of GMO corn and soybeans, yet has not cleared its farmers to grow them.
