China: Agriculture GMOs Safety Assessment Administrative Measures Notified to the WTO

On December 3, 2021, China notified to the WTO SPS Committee the Decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) to Revise the Administrative Measures for the Safety Assessment of Agricultural GMOs as SPS N CHN 1241. The decision changes the nature of biosafety assessment from being on a “crop variety and event” basis to solely on an “event” basis. The change facilitates variety registration of genetically engineered (GE) crop varieties for domestic cultivation and provides for the biosafety assessment of GE crops containing “stacked” traits. The proposed date for adoption of the measures is to be determined and the WTO notification does not provide a comment period.