GM foods in limbo in China as safety certificates expire
Rice-tasting events continue as developers await nod for commercial sales
Safety certificates for the only homegrown experimental genetically modified staple food crops to have the credentials expired yesterday, with no sign that the Ministry of Agriculture will renew the documents.
But advocates of the technology staged GM rice-tasting events in Beijing and 22 other cities across the mainland, with some expecting the government to give the nod for commercialisation of one crop in five years.
Watch: Advocates of GM rice hold tasting events in China
The ministry issued the certificates for one GM corn and two GM rice varieties five years ago to great controversy because they were the first staple foods to get the endorsement. The ministry insisted the crops were safe but have since repeatedly stressed that commercial planting and sales were strictly banned.
"It's like admitting a car is safe to run on the road but not giving it a licence plate," said Jiang Tao, senior engineer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology.
Jiang said the expiration would not have an immediate impact on GM food research, but scientists would need to spend more time going through procedures if they wanted to commercialise the foods.