http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15174/story.htm Planet Ark : Beijing seen tough on GMOs, particularly on soyoil
SINGAPORE: March 25, 2002 SINGAPORE - China is unlikely to allow free imports of soybeans in the near future, although it has begun accepting applications for temporary import permits for bio-engineered oilseeds, traders said last week. They said Chinese authorities were particularly strict on imports of products made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), such as soybean oil, and this might raise the country's appetite for non-GM products such as palm oil. "We have a big problem here," said a trader at an international house based in Beijing. "It's pretty tough, especially on the products. We cannot lodge any soybean oil applications...Probably this will increased demand for palm oil." Traders said Chinese authorities last week began accepting the first few applications for temporary safety certificates required for imports of GM-soybeans. Beijing is to respond within 30 days to each of the applications for temporary certificates. It was unclear whether the applicants could get such certificates earlier. But China's supplementary rules published this week said it was necessary to acquire import permits of GMO raw materials, such as soybeans and rapeseed, before applying for import permits of GMO processed products, such as soy oil or rapeseed oil. LIMITS ON QUANTITIES Some traders said Chinese authorities had also asked them to limit their applications to imports of only three cargoes, though these could come from three major origins, including the United States, Argentina and Brazil. Traders said such restrictions on imports of GMO products meant China might not import any soyoil this year, dashing hopes that the country might swallow up to 2.518 million tonnes of the vegetable oil from the international market. Though Beijing had started handing over low-tariff-rate import quotas (TRQs) for vegetable oils, they said, the GMO rules would leave hardly any window to use up the 2002 TRQs. It may take up to 270 days to get safety certificates for soy imports. Meanwhile, traders said, only one soy cargo, if at all, was expected to arrive in China over the next few weeks. Even if Beijing were quick in issuing temporary import permits, it will not be before late May or June that the next soy ships would dock in the country, they said. However, China is unlikely to suffer from any shortage in soybeans until mid or late May due to heavy arrivals of soy cargoes ahead of March 20, when the GMO rules took effect. They were sceptical of customs data released last week that put February soy imports at a mere 473,000 tonnes, compared with their estimates of more than one million tonnes. They ascribed the discrepancy to a possible delay in processing the papers. They estimated a total of 2.4 million tonnes left the United States for China during the first two months of this year. Another 700,000-800,000 tonnes was landing in March. (Additional reporting from Lee Chyen Yee in Shanghai). Story by Nao Nakanishi REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/iZp8OC/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://www.webconx.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
