The Ministry of Agriculture suspended the import of a foreign genetically modified soybean on the grounds of public opinion.

A genetically modified soybean that is under import approval has been suspended by the Ministry of Agriculture because of the "low public acceptance" of genetically modified food.

Foreign media have reported that China's Ministry of Agriculture recently rejected the approval of an imported GM soybean on the grounds of public opinion. On October 17th, Ministry of Agriculture officials responded that "public acceptance" would indeed be taken into account in the approval process.

According to Reuters on Sept. 26, two sources said that the approval of a genetically modified soybean under import approval was suspended by the Ministry of Agriculture because of the "low public acceptance" of genetically modified food, which is said to be the first time that China has used this reason. "in the past, the reason for the Ministry of Agriculture to reject a new product would be that the relevant data were not enough."

On October 17, Kou Jianping, director of the Department of Safety Management and intellectual property of genetically modified organisms of the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the Ministry of Agriculture, was asked about the authenticity of the news when communicating with the media in Wuhan. Kou Jianping did not directly confirm it, but responded that, different countries have different methods of safety supervision of genetically modified organisms, and some countries, such as the United States, are managed by purely scientific principles until the public has no problems. China's Ministry of Agriculture needs to consider all aspects of factors in its examination and approval.

"Science is a foundation, and social issues, trade issues, public acceptance and comprehensive factors should also be taken into account." Kou Jianping said.

The news released by Reuters at the end of September attracted wide attention in the industry, because if the news is true, it means that it will be more difficult for foreign GM varieties to enter China: if the data submitted is not enough and is refused to import, you can fill in the relevant data, but if it is because of low public acceptance, it will be difficult to change this.

Reuters did not disclose which varieties of GM soybeans were suspended this time. But soon after, Richard Breum, a spokesman for Bayer crop Sciences (Bayer CropScience), revealed in an interview that the Ministry of Agriculture informed the company at the end of August to "suspend import approval for its Liberty Link GM soybeans." "of course we are very disappointed," the spokesman said, but "the Chinese government did not ask for further investigation or more information."

Although current GM research has not increased production genes, insect-resistant GM crops can save the use of herbicides and indirectly increase yields, Kou Jianping told thepaper.cn.