China: MARA Solicits Comments on Revisions to the Administrative Measures for the Safety Assessment of Agricultural GMOs

On November 12, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) published its "Decision to Revise the Administrative Measures for the Safety Assessment of Agricultural GMOs” on its website. The publication is a draft for domestic comment and there has been no indication whether MARA will notify the amendment outside of China. The revisions change 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 the genetically engineered (GE) crop varieties for domestic cultivation and provides for the biosafety assessment of genetically engineered crops containing “stacked” traits. Deadline for submitting comments is December 12, 2021. This report provides an unofficial translation of the MARA publication.