CHINA CONSIDERS GM RICE APPROVAL

The Biosafety Committee of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture is considering the approval of at least four varieties of genetically modified (GM) rice and is expected to make a decision on the approval of their commercialisation as early as January 2005. If approved, it will be the first time that GM rice has been approved globally and the first time the Chinese have approved a GM crop for human consumption. Even if approved, however, the Chinese government has indicated that it would conduct additional field trials and tests about the safety of the crops for at least two years, setting 2006 as the expected date when the crop would be available for planting and harvest.

Hopes have been riding high on the potential for GM rice to solve the challenge of feeding China's booming population, with one Chinese study suggesting that adopting GM rice could result in an annual increased profit to China's agricultural sector of "roughly $5 billion in 2010". Sources also suggest that approval by China of GM rice could lead to a ripple effect throughout Asia, with India potentially jumping on the bandwagon.

However, despite the lack of broad-based mobilisation seen in Europe against GMOs, several sources are challenging the decision to approve of GM rice. "China is a centre of origin of rice," the environmental group Greenpeace said. "The biggest danger is the contamination of wild and conventional rice varieties with GM rice, which can encourage more troublesome weeds and will lead to the loss of wild species." The organisation also criticised the approval process, saying that the ministry's "behind closed doors process" was "scientifically and ethically flawed" and warned that scientists "still know too little about the unintended impacts of genetic modification." Commenting on the biannual GMO safety assessment meeting held in early December in Beijing, which began consideration of the GM rice varieties, the People's Daily Online said, "People should not be used as guinea pigs with food they eat every day". Concerns have also been raised over potential risks to trade relations with areas where GM rice remains unapproved.

In related news, on 15 December Researcher Takuji Sasaki of the Japanese National Institute of Agrobiological Science announced that an international team of scientists from 10 countries had completed the sequencing of the rice genome. Sasaki, the head of the Japanese team in the international effort, said that scientists had completed mapping some 370 million out of 390 million base pairs -- or 95 percent of the genome -- with an accuracy of 99.99 percent. This development is expected to lead to the acceleration of research on rice and the potential development of new varieties of rice.

ICTSD Reporting; "Of Rice and Men," NEWSWEEK, 13 December 2004; "People must not be guinea pigs in GM rice," PEOPLE'S DAILY ONLINE, 13 December 2004; " No GM Rice Yet," CHINA DAILY, 3 December 2004; "China cooks up a rice storm," ASIA TIMES ONLINE, 5 November 2004.