GM Rice in China Gets Biosafety Certificate

China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) recently released a list of GM crop varieties that obtained a biosafety certificate from the GM biosafety administration office of MOA in 2009. In the list was GM rice developed by Huazhong Agricultural University. The approved GM rice varieties are "Huahui No. 1" and hybrids "Bt Shanyou 63" with Bt cry1A gene showing high resistance to rice lepidopteran pests.

The MOA said "This is our important achievement in transgenic technology research with independent intellectual property rights, which lays a good foundation for commercial production. GM seed product in China must undergo a multi-year safety evaluation including five separate stages consisting of laboratory approval, intermediate testing, environmental release, production test and applications for safety certificate. Access to a biosafety certificate does not mean immediate commercial planting. The transgenic rice must undergo variety validation to obtain seed production and management permit before commercial application."

More information about the certificate is available at http://www.stee.agri.gov.cn/biosafety/spxx/t20091022_819217.htm