Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announces several new GMO biosafety certificates, involving Bayer, Corteva, BASF

Date:05-09-2022

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the 2022 Approval List recently for Agricultural GMO Biosafety Certificate (Import) List (I), where the submissions from Bayer Crop Science, Corteva and BASF were approved. 

The ministry has also publicized the 2022 Approval List for Agricultural GMO Biosafety Certificate (Production and Application) (I), where the submissions from Hangzhou Ruifeng and China National Seed Group were also approved.  

With the cross authorization of gene insertion and the expiration of patents, the genes inserted in the key traits of various companies tend to be functionally homogenized. At present, the insect-resistant genes inserted in the transformants of maize varieties that are granted safety certificates in China are mostly Cry1 and Cry2, with herbicide-resistant genes being epsps and pat. 

Chinese domestic GM products are still developing in an early stage, and there is room for further improvement of the richness of the traits and the associated sanctuary. In addition, the leading companies with rich safety certificate reserves may gain the first-move advantage in the early stage of commercialization. 

So far, as industry players are concerned, the herbicide-resistant corn nCX-1 of Hangzhou Ruifeng, where part of equity shares are held by Longping Hi-Tech (000998), has been granted the Agricultural GMO Biosafety Certificate. Da Bei Nong Group (002385) owns a sanctuary containing a GM variety portfolio. It has a biosafety certificate for DBBN3601T, a complex trait transformant resistant to corn borer and Spodoptera exigua.