Discuss this articleShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say
China’s Agricultural genetically modified organism (GMO) Biosafety Committee was unable to reach consensus on 24 November whether to commercialise Xa21, a rice strain genetically modified to be resistant to disease. The three-day bi-annual meeting of the national body decided to ask the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, who developed the variety to provide more data to prove the safety of the GM rice, which includes a gene from an African wild rice. Chinese consumers and civil society have become increasingly vocal about environmental and health concerns related to GM crops after Greenpeace discovered GM rice on supermarket shelves in Hubei, a central province in China, in May of this year. In response to public comments, the Chinese government has added more food and environmental safety experts to the committee, which is likely to make a decision on the commercialisation of the crop more difficult and lengthen the approval and regulation process (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 20 December 2004). Nonetheless, in commentaries on the meeting, leading Chinese newspapers called on the government to introduce more transparency into the GM decision-making process. To date, only Iran has commercialised a GM rice variety modified to be resistant to the stem-borer pest.
“China committee not recommending GMO rice,” REUTERS, 28 November 2005; “Public must have say in GM rice debate,” CHINA DAILY, 23 November 2005; “Iran Releases World’s First Bt Rice,” MANILA BULLETIN, 26 November 2005.
Add a comment
Enter your details and a comment below, then click Submit Comment. We’ll review and publish the best comments.