A new report from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative shows that exporting biotech crops to China is needlessly difficult, and it’s not just due to the recent ban on U.S. corn due to contamination by an unapproved genetically modified trait.
The report shows that since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China has consistently resisted the introduction of new biotech traits. While the report covers all aspects of China’s commitments as WTO member, it also lingers on agricultural barriers, such as asynchronous approval of biotech traits. China requires that a trait be approved in its originating country before the approval process can begin in China.
Compounding the issue is China’s National Biosafety Committee, which reviews applications for biotech traits, but only meets three times per year. China’s requirements are also vague with regard to products that contain multiple traits.
Intellectual property is a perennial problem in the Chinese market; in 2007, slight concessions were made with regard to the amount of intellectual property that accompanied applications for safety certification. This year, that changed.
For seed companies like DuPont Pioneer and Monstanto, this year’s 24th Session of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade between China and the U.S. wasn’t much of a win. The report reveals that China re-introduced one very specific requirement that it dropped in 2007: biotech seed companies must now submit viable seed along with their applications for new biotech traits, a requirement that increases the possibility of illegal copying of patented agricultural products.
The report, intended as a briefing for Congress, only states that the trade representative will continue to press China in 2014 to eliminate the requirement of submitting viable seed with applications, along with other regulatory barriers.
