Risk Regulation of Agricultural GMOs in China: Challenges and Prospects

TY - CHAP

T1 - Risk Regulation of Agricultural GMOs in China

T2 - Challenges and Prospects

AU - Xiang, Wen

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - Food security has ranked as one of the major concerns for China, due to its huge population as well as the limited amount of cultivated land. Brown made a prediction in 1995 that China would face a severe food shortage crisis in the future, because he estimated that China's grain production would fall by no less than 20%, from 340 million tonnes in 1990 to 272 million tonnes by 2030, but China's population would have reached approximately 1.6 billion by then (Brown, 1995). Since then, there has been a call for increased agricultural productivity. The emergence and fast development of biotechnology helped to solve the food shortage crisis, but the potential uncertainties regarding the effects of biotechnology on human beings or the environment have held back research on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and delayed their application. This is especially true in China at present, where such problems as the relatively weak legal framework of regulation, insufficient transparency in decision-making and the absence of broad participation of the general public are prevalent (Zhao and Ho, 2005). It has been noted that politics, law, the sciences, industrial concerns and social values need to be better organised in order to solve the problems (Beck, 1992a, 1992b). This chapter aims to provide an analysis of risk regulation of agricultural GMOs in China and to specify the challenges brought by the development of biotechnology in China. It highlights several aspects of the risk regulation system for agricultural GMOs in China, including risk assessment, the approval process and the labelling system as well as public participation. By virtue of the case of Bt rice, it concludes that risk regulation of agricultural GMOs poses unique challenges for China, and China is called upon to develop a legitimised regime that is accountable to its citizens, as well as consistent with its international obligations. Risk Assessment The main agricultural GMO regulations and implementing measures are listed in Table 18.1. According to RSAAGMOs and MSEAAGMOs, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is the primary institution in charge of implementing the agricultural biosafety regulations. The governing body under the MoA is the Leading Group on Agricultural GMO Biosafety Management (LGAGMOBM), which oversees the Agricultural GMO Biosafety Management Office (AGMOBMO). Risk assessment is conducted by the National Agricultural GMO Biosafety Committee (NAGMOBC).

AB - Food security has ranked as one of the major concerns for China, due to its huge population as well as the limited amount of cultivated land. Brown made a prediction in 1995 that China would face a severe food shortage crisis in the future, because he estimated that China's grain production would fall by no less than 20%, from 340 million tonnes in 1990 to 272 million tonnes by 2030, but China's population would have reached approximately 1.6 billion by then (Brown, 1995). Since then, there has been a call for increased agricultural productivity. The emergence and fast development of biotechnology helped to solve the food shortage crisis, but the potential uncertainties regarding the effects of biotechnology on human beings or the environment have held back research on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and delayed their application. This is especially true in China at present, where such problems as the relatively weak legal framework of regulation, insufficient transparency in decision-making and the absence of broad participation of the general public are prevalent (Zhao and Ho, 2005). It has been noted that politics, law, the sciences, industrial concerns and social values need to be better organised in order to solve the problems (Beck, 1992a, 1992b). This chapter aims to provide an analysis of risk regulation of agricultural GMOs in China and to specify the challenges brought by the development of biotechnology in China. It highlights several aspects of the risk regulation system for agricultural GMOs in China, including risk assessment, the approval process and the labelling system as well as public participation. By virtue of the case of Bt rice, it concludes that risk regulation of agricultural GMOs poses unique challenges for China, and China is called upon to develop a legitimised regime that is accountable to its citizens, as well as consistent with its international obligations. Risk Assessment The main agricultural GMO regulations and implementing measures are listed in Table 18.1. According to RSAAGMOs and MSEAAGMOs, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is the primary institution in charge of implementing the agricultural biosafety regulations. The governing body under the MoA is the Leading Group on Agricultural GMO Biosafety Management (LGAGMOBM), which oversees the Agricultural GMO Biosafety Management Office (AGMOBMO). Risk assessment is conducted by the National Agricultural GMO Biosafety Committee (NAGMOBC).

U2 - 10.1017/9781316585269.019

DO - 10.1017/9781316585269.019

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9781107151918

SP - 215

EP - 224

BT - Genetically Modified Organisms in Developing Countries

A2 - Adenle, Ademola A.

A2 - Morris, E. Jane

A2 - Murphy, Dennis J.

PB - Cambridge University Press

CY - Cambridge

ER -