The Government is funding the marketing of a genetically modified tomato in the mainland next year and stands to take a slice of any profits.
Critics of the move said yesterday that it was wrong for the Government to use taxpayers' money to market such products and the move would create a conflict of interest between its commercial affairs and its role in GM labelling.
Hong Kong Agritech Limited has successfully grown more than one million trial tomatoes in its 20 hectares of farms in Guangdong and Beijing. The tomato, which remains green, has had a gene implanted that reverses the production of a protein and so delays ripening. The fruit can be preserved for up to three months under the right conditions.
The company has also promoted and distributed the tomato seeds for free to farming co-operatives in Xinjiang, Shanxi, Guangxi, Shandong and Shanghai for tests. The tomato is expected to be on mainland shelves next year.
Agritech was formed in 1995 by a group of university academics with $5.8 million in funding from the Applied Research Fund administered by the Innovation and Technology Commission.
The Government owns 40 per cent of the company's shares and will get dividends from profits.
