China's approval of the genetically modified strain of corn, known as MIR162, is still pending, prolonging a ban that has seen nearly one million tonnes of the US grain turned away from Chinese ports since last November.

 

The country's agriculture ministry said it was still evaluating materials related to the strain that had been submitted late last year by developer Syngenta. The biosafety panel is responsible for approving genetically modified organism (GMO) imports and held a regular quarterly meeting at the end of March.

 

"Syngenta has provided (additional) relevant materials as required and the strain is currently in the process of evaluation," the ministry said in an email.

 

Industry sources had expected Beijing to delay approval of the strain, designed to protect plants from insects, with the world's second largest consumer of corn now awash in a glut of domestic supply amid weak demand and a record harvest.

 

According to one industry source, the biosafety committee has not approved the strain and given the huge domestic supply, they don't expect the ministry to approve it until the second half of the year. The biosafety committee next meets in June.

 

The ministry said its evaluation follows "scientific and cautious principles" to prevent genetically modified strains from taking a toll of food or environmental safety.

 

In the past two years, Beijing has stockpiled a record volume of corn, amounting to more than 90 million tonnes, in a bid to help prop up domestic prices and protect rural incomes.

 

China's quality watchdog in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu has turned away about 65,200 tonnes of US corn and corn products this week, after detecting the presence of MIR 162, a domestic newspaper reported.

 

That takes to nearly one million tonnes the total amount of corn that China has rejected since November from the world's largest exporter, the US.

 

Chinese buyers also cancelled purchases of 221,400 tonnes of US corn last week, the USDA said.

 

The cancellations by China may undermine Chicago corn futures, which have been supported by brisk export demand from other countries.