Debate on GM food continues in China

While the government hopes to develop disease-resistant crops to address the growing problem of food shortages, the controversy on safety issues of GM crops continue in China.

 

Supporters and opponents are fuelling the debate after the Ministry of Agriculture granted safety certificates for the domestic production of two types of GM paddy rice and one type of GM corn.

 

Chinese scientists have said GM rice and corn are as safe as non-GM varieties and pledged to expand their production.

 

GM corn and soy are already widely consumed in China, as well as in the US. The commercialisation of GM rice may be approved within the next three to four years, according to agricultural experts.

 

Xue Dayuan, a specialist on biodiversity at the Nanjing Research Institute of Environmental Sciences, said he is worried about the safety hazards posed by the commercialisation of GM rice to the health of consumers and the environment.

 

"I don't object to the commercialisation of GM rice, but I'm concerned about its risks," he said. He stressed that the country should be prudent over commercialising GM rice, since it would be the first country in the world to do so.

 

"If the world has not reached a consensus on GM food safety, it would be too proactive and risky to commercialise GM crops on a large scale," Zheng Fengtian, vice-dean of the Rural and Agricultural Development Institute at Renmin University of China said.

 

However, supporters of GM crops have argued there is no evidence that GM crops pose safety risks to either people or the environment.

 

Wu Yongning, a food safety specialist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said current studies have not proven GM food is harmful to consumers' health.

 

According to Wu, genetically-modified food has to pass rigorous tests before it is allowed onto supermarket shelves, including laboratory and field studies, toxicity and allergy tests.

 

Health administrators will also establish a system to monitor and report any adverse effects, he said.

 

"I am not ruling out all possible risks, but the risks of GM food are no greater than those of traditional ones, given the heavy use of pesticide in growing traditional food," he added.

 

The State Council, China's Cabinet, introduced a regulation in 2001 to ensure the safety of GM food, with strict provisions on its research, testing, production and marketing.

 

Huang Dafang, director of the Biotechnology Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that since GM food is less vulnerable to insects and diseases, fewer pesticides are needed to grow them, which is safer for consumers and the environment.

 

According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application, the expansion of GM planting from 1996-2006 saved 224,000 tonnes of pesticides from being sprayed onto crops.