Ethanol Blog

The U.S. Grains Council voiced its happiness with the recent announcement that China has not approved a controversial biotech corn trait, according to a news release on the Council's website (http://bit.ly/…).

The controversial trait is Syngenta's MIR 162, also known as Agrisure Viptera, developed to protect against corn pests and increase corn yields. The trait has been approved in 19 countries, including the U.S. since 2010, but was not approved in China until now.

Syngenta announced Monday (http://bit.ly/…) that it received the safety certificate from China's regulatory authorities that is needed to grant import approval. The certificate grants approval to corn grain, as well as dried distillers grains, for use in both food and feed.

The approval has been a long time coming, as Syngenta originally submitted the import approval dossier to China in March of 2010.

Recent history has seen a series of trade disruptions as China banned shipments of corn or DDG containing the trait. Although most U.S. DDGS exporters have found other homes for product formerly destined for China, resurgence in trade would be welcomed, as China has been the single largest buyer of U.S. DDGS in recent years.

Between January and October 2014, China imported 4.2 million metric tons of U.S. DDGS at a value of $1.2 billion. Mexico was the second largest buyer, importing $1.3 million metric tons at a value of $315 million.

The Council stated in its news release, "This decision is a positive but incomplete step towards the objective of normalizing agriculture trade with China. We continue to encourage U.S. and Chinese government officials to work together to create a synchronous and predictable approval process that will facilitate market access and promote trade to increase global food security."

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@dtn.com.

(ES)

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