Experts question official claim that current safety, labeling laws are enough
China's agricultural authority promised Thursday to advise the country's legislature to formulate a law on GM (genetically modified) food safety at a later date, restating that GM food on the Chinese market is as safe as non-GM food.
In response to proposed legislation on GM food safety, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said on its website that regulations issued by the State Council in 2001 and the revised Food Safety Law of 2015 already provide a legal basis for GM food production and management.
The MOA said it would propose legislation on GM food safety to China's lawmaking body "at a proper time," when further regulation needs arise.
The MOA stressed that GM food safety standards are scientific and strict, so GM products produced under China's system of safety evaluation and supervision are as safe as traditional non-GM products.
However, some experts questioned the MOA's assertions about existing regulations and laws related to GM products.
Xia Youfu, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics and an expert on trade in GM products, told the Global Times that although the MOA is responsible for supervising GM food safety, it should not act as a "referee" and "player" at the same time.
"The MOA, which has a duty to study and popularize GM agricultural products, has cooperated with many giant GM food producers such as Monsanto. How can it also play a role in law enforcement on GM food safety?" Xia said.
He argued that it is therefore necessary to formulate a law authorizing other governmental bodies to supervise food safety.
Lu Baorong, a biology professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times that the current regulations and laws have yet to clarify the threshold value of transgenic components at which food products are classified as GM.
Although current regulations on genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling stipulate that all products containing GMOs should be labeled as GM, many products that mix GMOs to one degree or another may not follow the regulation.
If a GMO content threshold is set, below which GM foods will not be labeled, labeling rules will be observed more strictly, Lu said.
The safety of GM foods has been a subject of broad public debate in China since 2013, when GM food opponent and former China Central Television host Cui Yongyuan had an online spat with Fang Zhouzi, a science writer and advocate of GM food. Many citizens sided with Cui, questioning the safety of GM foods.
The Legal Weekly reported in September 2014 that 71 lawyers in China had sued companies over poor GMO labeling of cooking oil.
