China’s GM rules to slow Monsanto’s Bt corn plan

Shanghai, June 11: China's new rules on genetically modified crops are likely to delay the commercialisation of Monsanto’s Bt corn by about a year to atleast 2003, a senior company executive said on Monday.

The rules, effective from May 23, span research and production to food processing and trade.

They require GM crop growers to conduct production field tests and require state approval of applications for bio-engineered crops, which could take up to 270 days.

But the industry hopes Beijing will give more details on some of the new rules, such as the type of products that now require GM labelling, Mr David Shi, Monsanto’s government and public affairs director in China, said in an interview.

“Before the rules, our plan was to commercialise our Btcorn in 2002 or 2003. Now, the earliest may be 2003,” Mr Shi said.

“Previously, our modified crops had to pass lab tests, Pilot field runs and then go on to environmental release before we can go commercial. Now there is an additional step of a “production trial” before we can mass produce,” he said.

The US Biotechnology firm grows only a little more than a hectare of Bt corn, currently at the environmental release stage — in which crops are grown in the open, rather than in a closed area like a greenhouse.
Bt crops contain the bacterium Bacillus thuringienesisproteins and are resistant to corn borers, bollworms and other pests that ravage cotton plants.

Monsanto is hoping its Bt corn will ride on the success of its Bt cotton crop in China, which is expected to have its acreage increase significantly in the next few years.

The company has gained approval from Beijing to grow Btcotton in the eastern provinces of Hebei, Anhui and Shandong and is awaiting permission to plant in Hubei and Henan, Shi said.

China’s cotton acreage is expected to rise 14.9 per cent to 4.63 million hectares in 2001. Monsanto officials said last year they expected about 20 per cent of China’s cotton acreage to be genetically modified.

Monsanto’s Bt cotton covers about 240,000 hectares and the New York-listed firm hopes the new GM rules will stem widespread sales of bogus seeds.

“Illegal and fake seeds are sold quite commonly throughout China. So the rules are welcomed by the industry,” Mr Shi said.

“In China, people openly market their products, giving out samples of their fake seeds. They are not discreet about it,” he said.

Importers, such as domestic trading firms and flour mills, would need state approval before shipping in GM seeds and grains, according to a State Council document published in the official People’s Daily newspaper on Thursday.

This would mean that Monsanto’s Round Up Ready soybeans would need to be approved, although the company has not filed an application yet, Mr Shi said.

The new rules also require GM products to be labelled as such before going on sale, but Mr Shi said the details were fuzzy.

“What products, when and at what threshold do we label these products? For example, do we need to spell out what is the GM content of products like beer and noodles?” Mr Shi queried. “We are not clear about that,” he said.

-- Reuters