ngin - Norfolk Genetic Information Network
17 March 2003

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
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?RecID=1505
Iraq has been under siege for the past 12 years... Hunger is a constant...
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?RecID=1507
Well-oiled Christian soldiers
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?RecID=1506

***

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."

***

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
 


ngin bulletin archive

INDEX