CHINA PRAISED FOR GM-FOOD ROLE AS U.S. SOY IMPORTS FALL BY 3.5 MILLION TONNES
Speaking truth to GWB's moment of lies to the world
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Iraq has been under siege for the past 12 years... Hunger is a constant...
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Well-oiled Christian soldiers
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EXCERPTS from article on China below:
"With 1.3 billion people and food security a concern, the mainland [of CHINA] should be expected to go the way of the United States... Instead, it is looking to Europe... no commercial GM food crops are known to exist.
"For a developing economy, the legislative moves are so startling that they have won the applause of usually critical environmental groups. Hong Kong, perceived as a model for future mainland development, has been left behind.
"...campaigns are making huge inroads in education on healthy eating. Concerns over the safety of GM ingredients is leading increasing numbers of middle-class residents of cities such as Guangzhou and Shanghai to demand labels detailing the composition of what they buy.
"Authorities have also been concerned about China's dependence on imports from the world's biggest producers of genetically altered soya beans, corn and rape seed, or canola - the US, Argentina and Canada. With potential markets in Europe in mind, plans are well advanced to produce the world's biggest non-GM soya crop in the northeast within the next five years.
"GM imports from the US have fallen dramatically." Soy imports from the US have fell by 3.5 million tonnes in 2001.
"The Chinese government pays much attention to soya beans and rice because these two crops are very important," Dr Xue said. "Genetically modified soya beans are not grown because people are worried about contamination to other crops."
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HK trails as the mainland is praised for GM-food role
Peter Kammerer
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) March 16, 2003,
CHINA'S LEADERS SEEM eager to disprove the adage that bigger
is better. With a cautious eye, they are implementing labelling regulations
on food and restricting genetically engineered crops. With 1.3 billion
people and food security a concern, the mainland should be expected
to go the way of the United States - the world's biggest producer
of genetically modified (GM) crops - to increase output. Instead,
it is looking to Europe, which has imposed tough regulations because
of fears that only time and testing will prove how safe GM food is.
An apparently free-wheeling approach to human gene experimentation,
despite regulatory laws, would seem to belie concerns about food.
The mainland has more hectares of modified cotton under cultivation
than any other country. Yet, while experiments are doubtlessly being
carried out in laboratories, no commercial GM food crops are known
to exist. For a developing economy, the legislative moves are
so startling that they have won the applause of usually critical
environmental groups. Hong Kong, perceived as a model for future
mainland development, has been left behind. China's reasoning is also advanced,
if consumer groups are to be believed. They claim campaigns are making
huge inroads in education on healthy eating. Concerns over the
safety of GM ingredients is leading increasing numbers of middle-class
residents of cities such as Guangzhou and Shanghai to demand labels
detailing the composition of what they buy. Authorities have also
been concerned about China's dependence on imports from the world's
biggest producers of genetically altered soya beans, corn and rape
seed, or canola - the US, Argentina and Canada. With potential markets
in Europe in mind, plans are well advanced to produce the world's
biggest non-GM soya crop in the northeast within the next five years.
But US pressure to protect billions of dollars of imports is holding
up the implementation of laws, says crop-safety expert Xue Dayuan,
of the National Environment Agency at Nanjing's Institute of Environmental
Science. "The Chinese government issued in 2001 legislation for labelling
and limiting genetically modified food imports," he said. "But because
of the US pressure, enforcement has been postponed. From September,
it will be considered again, but could also be postponed."
Still, GM imports from the US have fallen dramatically. In 2001, 13.4
million tonnes of soya beans were imported. That fell to about 10 million last year. "The Chinese government pays much attention to soya beans and rice because these two crops are very important," Dr Xue said. "Genetically modified soya beans are not grown because people are worried about contamination to other crops."
While laws were being drafted in China, legislators in Hong Kong were discussing similar measures amid heated debate. A spokesman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said legislation on GM food was at an initial stage and was being dealt with separately from the labelling issue.
"We're still trying to consult the trade before the pre - legislative process," he said. "For every bill, we try to consult every stake - holder - in this case, the producer, manufacturer, retailer and the Consumer Council."
No indication was given on how long the process might take. The Legislative Council's Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene Panel is due to discuss the labelling issue on Thursday. Environmental group Greenpeace claimed Hong Kong's apparent slowness compared to the mainland was because of a government bias towards commercial interests.
Campaigner Sze Pang-cheung, who moves to Beijing next month to co- ordinate the GM programme in China, said Hong Kong had achieved little in three years of working on the labelling issue. "Every time they say it will increase costs, and food producers say they will go out of business or leave Hong Kong if the legislation is enforced," Mr Sze claimed. "Whether there is an excuse or a reason, the government seems to weigh that strongly against the consumers' voice or the Legislative Council's opinion."
This was despite Greenpeace having contacted 80 food manufacturers in Hong Kong and getting assurances from more than half that they would not use GM ingredients in their products. "At best, the government will come out with a very loose regulation," Mr Sze said. "At worst, it won't do the mandatory labelling regulation. It would rather opt for voluntary regulation."
On paper, at least, China's labelling laws were mandatory.
For now, as in Hong Kong on some soya drink products, an increasing
number of firms were labelling their products non-GM. Mr Sze believed
people on the mainland were more worried about GM food than those
in Hong Kong. About 20 per cent of vegetables and fruit in China
were now organically grown. In an effort to push Beijing on enforcing
legislation, Greenpeace had had about 70 samples of food products
tested and the results would be given in Guangzhou and Shanghai today.
Peter Kammerer is the Post's Foreign Editor peter.kammerer@scmp.com