BEIJING, Jan 11 (Reuters) - China said on Monday it was set
to approve the safety of another genetically modified (GMO) corn
variety and a GMO soybean, both produced by Beijing Dabeinong
Technology Group Co Ltd.
The move comes after China last year approved three
domestically designed GMO crops as safe, the first in a decade,
in a fresh push towards commercial planting of GMO crops in the
world's top soybean importer and a major corn buyer.
Beijing has never permitted planting of GMO soybean or corn
varieties but it permits their import for use in animal feed.
The government has said recently, however, that it wants to
support biotech breeding to boost food security, leading the
industry to expect progress towards commercialisation in the
coming year.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has opened its
plan for safety approval for public comment until Feb. 1.
One of the new products, a glufosate and
glufosinate-resistant soybean known as DBN9004, has already been
approved as safe in Argentina, where Dabeinong is also seeking
commercial production.
The other, known as DBN9501, is a corn resistant to the fall
armyworm pest, which last year reached China's cornbelt region.
Dabeinong could not be reached for comment.
Though several further steps must be taken before farmers in
China are allowed to plant the crops, the approval is seen as
timely given a growing corn deficit in the world's top grain
grower.
"The arrival of GMOs can bring an increase in production
efficiency," said Mao Yifan, analyst at Industrial Securities.
The ministry also said on Monday it had approved two new GMO
corn varieties for import, the glyphosate-resistant and
insect-resistant MON87411 sold by Bayer's Crop
Science unit and MZIR098 produced by Syngenta.
"We appreciate the approval of an existing product," said
Holger Elfes, a spokesman for Bayer.
"Syngenta Seeds is pleased to receive import approval from
China for our innovative corn, which successfully combats corn
rootworm, a scourge of farmers," said Saswato Das, spokesman for
Syngenta, a unit of China's state-owned ChemChina.
(Reporting by Dominique Patton and Hallie Gu, additional
reporting by John Revill in Zurich; Editing by Himani Sarkar,
Mark Potter, Kirsten Donovan)