December 24, 2014

China to import 900,000 tonnes of GE corn-derived DDGS

A Chinese state-owned agricultural firm is reportedly importing from the US as much as 900,000 tonnes of Distillers' Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) derived from a previously banned genetically modified corn variety.

Bloomberg News reported that China, the largest buyer of the corn byproduct, had signed contracts for the shipments of the DDGS between December and March after China approved the import of the GM corn MIR 162, also known as Agrisure Viptera.

MIR 162 was developed by Syngenta and is commonly grown in the US.

The China National Grain and Oils Information Center, a state think tank, confirmed the 900,000-tonne shipments that it said were contracted by state-owned COFCO, China's largest supplier of agricultural and food products.

China rejected previous shipments of corn that were found to contain the MIR 162 strain. As a result, imports of DDGS from the US fell to as low as 100,000 tonnes in September and October, according to Shanghai JC Intelligence Co analyst Sylvia Shi. Importers had been reluctant to bring in DDGS over concerns their shipments could be refused entry at Chinese ports for containing traces of GE corn.

Meanwhile, DuPont announced on Monday that China had approved imports of its genetically modified Pioneer soy variety Plenish which, according to a spokeswoman, was engineered to produce a healthier type of soy oil.

Also on Monday, Syngenta said it received official notice that China had approved imports of its Agrisure Viptera corn.

Earlier last week Bayer said China had officially approved the CropScience soy variety LL55 Liberty Link after seven years of review.