Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
issued the following, more detailed, min-
isterial acts: the 'Administrative Measures
on the Safety of the Import of Agricultural
GMOs', the 'Administrative Measures on the
Labeling of Agricultural GMOs' and the
'Administrative Measures on the Safety
Assessment of Agricultural GMOs' in July
2002. As specii ed by these regulations,
agricultural GMOs are classii ed into Classes
I, II, III and IV according to the extent of
their risks to humans, animals, plants,
microorganisms and the ecological environ-
ment; the biosafety assessment of agri-
cultural GMOs shall go through i ve stages:
namely, research in the laboratory, restricted
i eld testing, enlarged i eld testing,
production testing and application of a
safety certii cate of agricultural GMOs. h e
following 16 items of agri-GMOs are on the
i rst list of labelling: soybean seeds, soybean,
soybean powder, soybean oil, soybean meal;
maize seeds, maize, maize oil, maize powder;
rape seeds, rape oil, rape meal; cotton seeds;
tomato seeds, fresh tomato and tomato
paste. h ey shall be clearly labelled when
they are sold within the territory of China.
In addition, the 'Administrative Measures
on GM Food Hygiene' was issued by h e
Ministry of Health in 2002 and the
'Administrative Measures on the Inspection
and Quarantine of the Import and Export of
GMO Products' was issued by h e General
Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine in 2004. Taken
together, one regulation combined with i ve
administrative measures normalize the
procedures of biosafety assessment, label-
ling, production, marketing and inspection
and quarantine of imports and exports with
regards to agricultural GMOs (Guo, 2011).
In Japan, the commercialization of
biotech plant products requires food, feed
and environmental approval. Four ministries
are involved in the regulatory framework:
MAFF, the Ministry of Health, Labor and
Welfare (MHLW), the Ministry of
Environment (MOE) and the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology (MEXT). h ese ministries are
also involved in environmental protection
and in regulating laboratory trials. h e Food
Safety Commission (FSC), an independent
risk assessment body, performs food and
feed safety risk assessment for the MHLW
and MAFF. h e regulatory framework for
the biosafety of GM plants consists of the
'Basic Law on Food Safety', the 'Law Con-
cerning the Safety and Quality Improvement
of Feed (the Feed Safety Law)' and the 'Law
Concerning Securing of Biological Diversity
(Regulation of the Use of Genetically
Modii ed Organisms)' (USDA, 2011b).
Other countries are in the process of
establishing a legislative framework for the
biosafety and commercial release of GM
crops. India has established a Biosafety
Committee and the GEAC to oversee the
biosafety and applications of GM crops. In
the Philippines, the National Committee on
Biosafety mandates the guidelines and
approvals. h e approval permit stipulates
that the performance of the GM crop and its
ef ect on the environment as well as human
and animal health are assessed. h e
Philippine government released guidelines,
taking ef ect as of 1 July 2003 that regulated
the importation and commercialization of
GM crops.
h ere will likely be more than i ve billion
people in Asia by 2025. Traditional farming
practices and equipment, however, are
reaching their limits of ef ectiveness in
increasing agricultural productivity. h e
types of GM crops that may become available
in the future could enhance both yields and
the nutritional value of staple foods and
eliminate chemicals that are harmful to the
environment. Asia, therefore, has the
potential to lead the world in applying
biotechnology for these new classes of
products, with the way paved by GM crops
and food (see Chapter 1). Meanwhile, to
promote healthy development of the
agricultural biotechnology industry, several
major challenges need to be overcome by:
1.
Improving biotechnology R&D, such as
identifying and patenting plant genes of
great value and rei ning the biosafety assess-
ment system.
