On February 21st, the State Council Legislative Affairs Office announced on its website the draft of the “Food Law†to solicit comments from the community. This is the first law formulated specifically for food in New China. The Opinions mentioned that in order to promote food production, maintain the order of grain circulation, and ensure national food security, the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Grain Bureau, together with relevant departments, drafted a Draft for Food Law on the basis of investigation and research.
Article 12 of the Opinions stipulates that “any unit or individual shall not apply GM technology to major grain varietiesâ€. Because of the future of genetically modified foods, whether genetically modified staple foods will be implemented in China or not, and how the final provisions of the food law are regulated, has aroused widespread public concern.
The draft refers directly to genetically modified
This is the first time that our country’s official has solicited public opinions on the issue of food legislation. Article 12 of the Exposure Draft stipulates that “any unit or individual shall not apply genetically modified technology on major grain varietiesâ€.
As early as last year, the issue of genetic transformation had caused controversy on many occasions. The national agricultural department had clearly stated that according to relevant laws and regulations, China has not yet approved the entry of genetically modified foods into commercial production, and it is an illegal act to grow, process and sell genetically modified food and processed products without authorization. behavior.
However, according to a researcher at the Institute of Crop Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lou Pingya revealed that large quantities of genetically modified crops have already been planted in China's farmland, and that there are "illegal commercialization" of corn and genetically modified rice. He said that illegal commercial corn varieties have grown to hundreds of thousands of mu in Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, Liaoning and Jilin provinces. The sales channel for GM rice seeds has spread over more than a dozen provinces in the South and has grown to scale.
The draft of this consultation draft, from the surface's meaning of the text, set a tone of “no use without permission†in the debate on whether China's staple foods allow the use of genetically modified technology, but sensitive people are worried that such expression will still be Relevant people are left with the possibility of breaking their limitations.
Based on its own experience, Fang Lifeng, director of the Greenpeace Food and Agriculture Project, welcomed the introduction of the Draft for Food Law. Fang Lifeng believes that there are still many loopholes in China's past laws and regulations, especially the system for the supervision of genetically modified food safety.
"It is this reason that caused such large-scale planting and the sale of illegally GM rice in the market since 2005." Fang Lifeng said, "Now, the state is trying to legislate to prohibit the use of GM rice or genetically modified staple foods."
On the one hand, they hope that the future “Food Law†will more explicitly prohibit the prohibition of transgenic technology on staple crops or other crops; on the other hand, they do not oppose this technology research.
“We are opposed to large-scale release of genetically modified crops or genetically modified organisms into the environment, commercial planting, and then entering the food chain.†Fang Lifeng said.
"The "Food Law" will ultimately stipulate how to regulate genetic problems. Only when the final laws are introduced will it be known." The relevant person of the State Council Legislative Affairs Office told this reporter. Regarding the controversy arising from this draft, he frankly stated: “Now it is normal for the society to have a variety of opinions on a new draft law. Now that the legislation is more transparent, we cannot build cars behind closed doors because some of our legislators may not be able to Being experts, soliciting opinions to hear different voices can improve the law."
As early as 2007, the Eleventh National People's Congress Standing Committee had already listed the "Food Law" as a five-year legislative plan, and requested that it be submitted for consideration during its term of office. In the subsequent two years of 2009 and 2010, the "Food Law" was included in the State Council's legislative plan for the year.
For a large country with a population of 1.3 billion, solving the food problem has always been regarded as a top priority. However, on the other hand, throughout the history of our country’s legislation, there has been no laws and regulations regarding the grain sector. The "Food Law" that is soliciting opinions is expected to set a precedent for China's food legislation. The reason why it attracts people's attention is also its historical factors.
According to the relevant personage of the State Council Legislative Affairs Office, “The Food Law is currently only seeking opinions. In terms of details, such as the requirements of the leadership, there are some disputes, it is impossible to get online to comment.†He stressed to this reporter.
What is certain is that the "Food Law" has to solicit opinions from all parties. Since the advent of genetically modified foods, its safety has continued to be controversial. However, China has not prevented the establishment of large-scale planting on the dark side of the plank road.
Article 12 was approved to "ride the wall"
The total number of drafts for soliciting opinions disclosed by the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council today totals 97 items. Most of the contents are systematically sorted out according to a series of grain policies and measures such as the Grain Circulation Management Regulations and the Central Grain Reserves Regulations issued by the State Council.
One of the most noteworthy of these is that the draft of the draft for consultations specifically states in Article 12 that scientific research, testing, production, sales, and import and export of genetically modified grain seeds should comply with relevant state regulations. "No unit or individual may use GM technology on major grain varieties."
As can be seen from the opinion draft, China will have some restrictions on the application of transgenic technology to staple foods, including wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and other food crops.
"This is the first time that China's State Department has come to legislate to administer genetically modified. This is of great significance in prohibiting the use of genetically modified genetically modified foods and ensuring food security," Fang Lifeng, director of the Greenpeace Food and Agriculture Project, told this reporter.
Fang Lifeng believes that as early as in 2009, China issued a security certificate for genetically modified rice and corn has caused questions, and the draft issued today banned the use of genetically modified food staples, "respect for the performance of large voices and appeals."
"Always a progress, it should be affirmative and encouraging." In Beijing, Yang Fangzhou, who has always opposed anti-GM, evaluated 12 of them.
Yang Fangzhou is an ordinary citizen of Beijing. In order to oppose the application of genetically modified technology to the staple food industry, he and his companions have successively applied to the Ministry of Agriculture several times to produce and sell genetically modified soybean oil to Yihai Kerry Co., Ltd. for the past three years. Protest.
But certainly does not mean he has no opinion. "Formally written laws should be tougher than the draft, and they must be resolute," he said. "According to the current flood of genetically modified seeds, it's not enough to say that we shouldn't grow plants without permission. It's not enough. Unless you have conclusive Evidence can prove to be safe and accepted by most people, otherwise it cannot give any legitimacy to the seeds of the GM crop."
Gu Xiulin, an economist, expressed his concern about the draft Food Act. She believes that this opinion does not prohibit the cultivation of GM crops.
"'No unit or individual may arbitrarily apply genetically modified technology on major grain varieties', but it stipulates that it can't do it without permission. This means that it can be done 'unauthorized'," said Gu Xiulin.
She even thinks that the 12th draft of the "Food Law" is "very wall-riding": "To go to the right is to do it. To the left is to tighten it. If you don't do it, you don't do it. I said that I can do it. Blurry assumptions."
Transgenic plant "darkness warehouse"
In 1996, China had approved the commercial planting of genetically modified cotton. However, so far, only two varieties of transgenic cotton and genetically modified papaya have been approved for commercial cultivation in China.
Fang Lifeng stressed that it is illegal to plant unapproved commercial plants. The safety certificate for genetically modified crops is valid for five years. If it is not extended, it will be invalidated. China has not yet renewed its approval.
However, in accordance with the laws of our country, the import of genetically modified crops is permitted. Soybeans, corn, canola, sugar beets, and cotton are used as raw materials for processing.
In 2005, according to the amount of seeds on the market, Greenpeace calculated that the planting area of ​​GM rice could be two or three thousand mu. In 2010, Greenpeace found that illegal rice seeds were sold on the markets of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi. In Yueyang, Hunan, under the report of Greenpeace, the local agricultural department collected about 3,000 pounds of genetically modified rice seeds. However, Fang Lifeng also stated that it is difficult to judge how much genetically modified rice is planted in the end.
In 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture had successively approved import safety certificates for four crops of genetically modified cotton, soybeans, corn, and rapeseed as processing raw materials.
At present, the most common genetically modified food in China's food market is genetically modified soybean oil. After GM soybeans were introduced into China, most of them flowed into edible oil processing companies with a foreign investment background.
The soybean oil market has collapsed. Now, what the reverse gene can do is stop transgenes from being applied to the staple food. But what disappoints people with reverse genes is that GM rice has already been planted in provinces such as Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi.
As early as 2005, Greenpeace discovered large-scale illegal transgenic rice cultivation in Hubei. Almost at the same time, they are still finding markets for GM rice in markets in Wuhan and Guangzhou.
Fang Lifeng revealed to the Times Weekly reporter: “At that time, we learned about some news through the news. We went to the seed market in Wuhan and sent samples to third-party laboratories for testing, interviews with farmers, and interviews with seed stations. It was learned that they planted insect-resistant genetically modified rice, but they were not labeled as genetically modified."
Unordered state
Fang Lifeng's point is that although the current long-term safety of genetically modified foods has not been conclusive, some experiments have used genetically modified corn to feed mice. As a result, mice may develop some immune systems, or there may be abnormalities or adverse reactions in the liver and kidneys.
"This has sounded the alarm for food safety. Genetically modified foods are likely to have these risks." Fang Lifeng said, "We have always called for: GM foods should not be grown on a large scale."
However, according to Liu Dehu, a genetically-modified technologist at the Center for Biotechnology Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the current objection in society is mainly due to this lack of understanding.
"You don't want to give a professional opinion in a field. It would be ridiculous and ignorant." He bluntly criticized: "GMO is not a new species. It was previously uncontrollable. It is now possible. controlling."
In the wake of the controversy in 2009, the Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism Safety Management Office of the Ministry of Agriculture approved the issuance of two kinds of transgenic insect-resistant rice and a phytase-transgenic maize production safety certificate for a limited period until August 17, 2014.
From the list released at that time, the developer of genetically modified rice was Zhang Qi, dean of the Huazhong Agricultural University College.
On January 6, 2010, when responding to the controversy over the safety of genetically modified rice, Zhang Qie had said that genetically modified crops have been planted on a large area in the world for 14 years. There is still no evidence that GM foods are insecure. "Adults eat 500 grams of genetically modified rice every day and they will not have problems even eating 657 years," he said.
Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with this reporter that China has more than 70% of soybeans and more than 90% of vegetable seeds rely on imports, and most of them contain genetically modified genes.
He believes that the current status of genetically modified technology in China is: civil blind boycott, lack of government management, risk assessment does not work. This current pattern poses greater risks to China.
"I have always stressed that we should not blindly resist genetic modification and must standardize management." Li Guoxiang said, "The current situation is that the government does not allow the use of staple food, but the people are using it and are in an unordered state."
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