Genetically modified rice has obtained the safety certificate but has not been industrialized.

Recently, at a GM seminar, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and well-known GM research experts in China responded to hot issues of public concern, such as the safety and regulatory risks of GM food. At the meeting, the specialist called on the Ministry of Agriculture to revise the regulations on the Safety Management of Agricultural genetically modified organisms as soon as possible, and suggested that variety registration should be used instead of variety approval.

Evaluation of genetically modified varieties requires five-step examination and approval

At the meeting, Yang Xiaoguang, an expert from the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that from 1996 to 2015, humans ate genetically modified foods for nearly 20 years, and there was not a single scientifically confirmed biosafety problem. In 2012, French professor Serellini wrote that the conclusion that genetically modified corn causes cancer can be reached through experiments, but the study has been completely denied by the European Food Safety Agency.

According to the observation of a reporter from Beiqing Daily, although the agricultural department has repeatedly stated that the genetically modified foods currently approved for sale are safe, there are still people who are skeptical that if the administrative supervision capacity is insufficient, it will bring potential risks to this neutral technology.

In this regard, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture stressed at the meeting on November 7 that China's GM safety evaluation system is stringent, and the evaluation experts are composed of experts in multi-disciplinary fields such as health, agriculture, quarantine, and environmental protection, with reference to international and domestic standards. A variety evaluation procedure should go through five stages: experimental research, intermediate test, environmental release, productive test and application for safety certificate, and should be examined and approved from the beginning of experimental research. With regard to the problem of "stealing" genetically modified crops, the Ministry of Agriculture has a very clear attitude and found that it has been investigated and dealt with together.

Experts say regulation and security are two concepts

Huang Dafang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, stressed that supervision is necessary, mainly to guard against its possible risks. However, regulation and safety are two concepts and should not be confused. "whether it is safe or not is a scientific question; supervision is a matter of law and procedure. The program problem will not change the conclusion of security. if a security certificate is issued, it indicates that the security problem has been solved. "

Take the Hunan Golden Rice incident as an example. In 2012, 25 children in Hunan unknowingly participated in the experiment and ate golden rice. Huang Dafang said that after the incident came to light, parents were particularly nervous for fear of problems with their children. But in fact, there will be no problem, because the safety evaluation of golden rice has been passed, and the test was mainly in nutrition at that time. It is a matter of procedure that researchers fail to abide by the rules.

An industry source told reporters that in the current situation, if there is overplanting of GM crops, more impact will be on the economy and trade, such as exports will not meet the examination standards of the importing country, causing disputes.

Measures for the examination and approval of genetically modified varieties have not been issued for many years.

Huang Dafang also believes that the current GM safety supervision in some links is excessive. For example, genetically modified varieties that have issued safety certificates will be subject to very strict variety approval according to the regulations. However, genetically modified rice and corn have obtained safety certificates many years ago, but they have not been industrialized and have not come to the stage of variety approval. However, the relevant departments have not issued relevant measures for the approval of genetically modified varieties for many years. "I don't think this is right."

In his view, the current regulations on the safety management of genetically modified organisms were formulated in 2001, and 15 years later, many problems have been further understood scientifically and accumulated in practice. Some contents that are no longer suitable for development should be revised, "for example, can we be in line with international standards, using variety identification, or variety registration instead of variety approval?"

It is understood that if GM crops are to be grown commercially, they must obtain a variety approval certificate, a seed production license and a business license. At present, only one genetically modified cotton crop has been approved for commercial production in China.

In 2009, China issued two safety certificates for genetically modified rice and corn with high phytase. On August 17, 2014, three certificates expired. In January this year, Huazhong Agricultural University confirmed that the safety certificate had been renewed successfully. The Ministry of Agriculture responded that "it does not mean that it will speed up the promotion of genetically modified staple grains in China".