Chinese Scientists Study Implications of Low Level Presence of GM Products

Genetically modified (GM) crops have been in rapid development worldwide in recent years. However, a problem of low level presence (LLP) of GM products is emerging because of asynchronous approvals among importing and exporting countries, and low tolerance level for adventitious presence of GM products unapproved by importing countries. Major concerns have been raised about LLP leading to trade conflict and even trade disruption.

Researchers from the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences provided insights into the definition of low level presence, emphasizing its specificity and inevitability from a technical perspective. They also enumerated LLP policies of several important countries and illustrated the potential adverse effects of strict LLP policies on agricultural trade. Findings pointed out that mutual trust and information exchange mechanisms should be built up among importing and exporting countries. Meanwhile, it is very critical to shorten the time to get the import safety approval and set up the science-based LLP threshold.

For more details, see the article published in the journal China Biotechnology at http://159.226.100.150:8082/biotech/CN/volumn/home.shtml.