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Government cautious about crops
By Jia Hepeng (China Business Weekly)
Updated: 2004-03-16 14:42

There is growing evidence which shows that the Chinese Government is adopting a positive attitude toward genetically modified (GM) crops, which may eventually lead the country to take a bold step to massively commercialize its GM rice.

"The government seems to have increased its investment in trial programmes to commercialize GM rice, and several of these programmes were launched in the past two years," said rice scientist Huang Danian.

Huang, with the Hangzhou-based China National Rice Research Institute (CNRRI), was one of the first Chinese scientists to develop GM rice in the mid-1990s. By inserting a gene from bacteria to rice cells, the GM rice developed by Huang can resist herbicides and high levels of salt.

Huang was echoed by Scott Rozelle, an agricultural economist from the University of California, Davis. Rozelle worked for the Chinese Government in an agricultural consulting programme.

A workman carries bags of rice in Beijing. Scientists say commercializing GM rice will improve the nation's output, lower agricultural costs and reduce farmers' exposure to dangerous chemicals. [Reuters]

Late last month, Rozelle was quoted by Reuters as saying that starting next year, China plans to spend US$500 million per year researching crops modified to withstand insects, diseases and herbicides.

Huang Jikun, an economist with the Agricultural Policy Centre under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said that Rozelle might have overestimated the US dollar value of Chinese research funds, and actual figures might be approaching US$120 million. Huang Jikun is a long-time research partner of Rozelle in China.

But the final decision seems not to have come yet. An official with the GM crop office under the Ministry of Agriculture said that no final decision has been made so far.

Despite this, Huang Jikun said the government has adopted a more positive attitude toward GM technologies, as was shown in the issuing of safety certificates for five imported GM crops last month.

According to Chinese regulations, the certificate is a precondition for foreign exporters to import genetically modified organism (GMO) to China.

In 2001, the State Council released China's first statute on GM crops -- the Safety Regulation on the Agricultural Genetically Modified Crop, which required all GM crops entering China to get safety certificates from the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that the goods are safe. The inspection term for this is up to 270 days.

China did not issue the safety certificates in 2002 when the first 270-day expired.

In order to make sure trade in biotech agricultural products was not disrupted before the safety certificates were issued, China adopted a set of interim rules in 2002.

The interim rules, which require GMO exporters to obtain temporary certificates for their exports to China, was extended three times and will be due on April 21 this year.

Despite the interim rules, China remained the world's largest importer of GM soybeans. In 2002, China imported 20.74 million tons of soybean worth US$4.8 billion.

More than 70 per cent of China's imported soybeans were genetically modified.

A realistic consideration to use GM technologies is the continuing decline of China's grain output. Given the low efficiency associated with planting grain, many farmers either give up their land or turn to cash crops. Declining grain output over the past five years has made policy-makers worry about the problem of food supply.

High-output GM rice may partially help solve the grain supply problem, Huang Jikun said.

A group of senior Chinese biotech scientists have recently released a report urging the government to allow the commercial planting of GM rice to take place as soon as possible.

Chinese researchers have developed several GM rice varieties, with field trials showing boosted yields and less chemical use. The scientists say that if GM rice was widely used by farmers, it would have an even greater impact than GM cotton.

GM cotton has become the "miracle crop" of China since its commercial growth was first permitted in 1996, and more than half of China's cotton is now genetically modified. One of the main reasons for this success, say its advocates, is that it has both helped farmers to cut their production costs by an average of almost 30 per cent, and reduce their exposure to chemicals.

On the other hand, research officials and policy-makers no doubt worry about the consequences for trade and the consequences for consumer protection, Rozelle said.

GM technologies might become an excuse for importing countries to refuse Chinese crops.

But Rozelle added that the impact would be relatively small, given the small share of rice in China that is exported, which is about 1 per cent of its total rice output.

Huang Danian said that it is understandable that the government would adopt a highly cautious attitude toward GM food because, unlike cotton, any potential harm of GM food may directly threaten human health.

"Our scientists have been working hard to find out any potential dangers associated with GM food. So far, no evidence shows that GM crops will threaten human health," Huang Danian said.

But environmental groups argue that the potential harm might appear several generations from now. Early last year, scientists with the Beijing-based Chinese Centre of Disease Control said that a three-year experiment showed that rats and their offspring did not appear to have any unhealthy symptom after eating GM rice.

"It would not at all surprise me if the decision is postponed for a number more months or even a couple more years," Rozelle said.

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