China Approves 8 New GM Crops; Renews Approvals for 2 More

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) issued new and renewed biosafety certificates for eight genetically modified (GM) crops on January 13, 2023, following the conclusion of the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) meeting in December 2022.

The approvals include eight new and two renewed certificates issued for GM crops approved for import as processing materials. The certificates include three new GM cotton events developed by BASF, Bayer, and Corteva; two renewed GM cotton events developed by BASF; one new GM rapeseed event developed by Corteva; two new GM sugarcane events developed by Brazil Sugarcane Technology Center; and two new GM alfalfa events developed by Bayer. The validity period of new and renewed biosafety certificates is five years.

The set of recent approvals is notable in several ways. The certificates for GM alfalfa and sugarcane mark the first time that China approved such GM varieties for import. The eight approvals for import are unprecedented, especially following several years when NBC approved only one or two new events. Lastly, the rapeseed and alfalfa approvals bring to a conclusion three of the longest outstanding foreign developer applications, each having spanned more than a decade. The announcement also included renewals for 32 biosafety certificates for domestic cultivation/production, including 29 GM cotton events and three animal vaccines, and six new approvals for cultivation/production, including two GM corn events, one GM soybean event, and three animal vaccines.

For more details about these approvals, read the Voluntary Report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. To see the lists of approved import certificates and new and renewed cultivation/production certificates, visit the MARA website.