China approves three new GMO seed varieties for import

Saturday, June 22, 2013 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: China, GM seed, GMO food

(NaturalNews) Just days after we reported that China had blocked several illegal shipments of both genetically-modified (GM) corn and transgenic corn seeds coming from the U.S., it is now being reported that China has since approved three other GMO varieties for legal import. Defying what was believed by some to be renewed opposition to the ongoing GMO takeover by the new Chinese government, the latest approvals show that the world's fastest growing economy is apparently still supporting global biotech (GMOs).

According to Reuters, China's agricultural ministry has officially authorized the import of three new varieties of GM soy, all of which are grown in Brazil, the world's second largest soy producer - the U.S. is number one. One of the varieties, known as Intacta RR2, is produced by none other than Monsanto, while the other two varieties, CV127 and Liberty Link, are produced by BASF Plant Science and Bayer, respectively. All three varieties collectively represent Brazil's largest agricultural product.

Brazil has been pushing its "Frankensoy" on China for at least the past three years, but the expanding Asian country has been reluctant to approve it. Chinese authorities say their focus all this time has been on determining the ultimate safety of the crops for both the environment and human health, a process that takes much longer in China than it does in the U.S., where GMOs tend to be approved indiscriminately without any proper oversight or independent safety testing.

"The imported GM soybeans are to be made into cooking oil," says Peng Yufa, Deputy Director of China's Transgenic Crop Committee, as quoted by Business Standard. "The final product will not contain transgenic protein," he adds, "so there is no food safety threat."

Horizontal gene transfer allows transgenic DNA to pass through into humans

But as illustrated by numerous independent studies conducted over the years, GM proteins can pass through into the final refined product. At least one study has verified that horizontal gene transfer (HGT), as it is called, ends up wreaking havoc on the human digestive system, not to mention the entire human genetic code.

"[T]he method used to construct and insert foreign genes into GM crops eliminates many of the natural barriers that stop HGT from occurring," explains the advocacy group Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT). "Indeed, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that portions of the gene inserted into GM soy ended up transferring into the DNA of human gut bacteria."

The group Earth Open Source has compiled a plethora of information about HGT that you can peruse here:
http://earthopensource.org

As far as the Chinese people are concerned, they can expect a whole new wave of allergies, gastrointestinal disorders, and other problems spurred by this impending influx of poisonous GM soy from Brazil. Despite widespread and growing opposition to GMOs in general, the Chinese government is caving to demands from Brazil to accept its tainted crops.

"HGT events of all types are of very low probability of occurrence," says Earth Open Source. "However, given the extremely wide distribution of GM crops and their intended use over decades, these low probabilities translate into the likelihood that HGT events could actually occur even via the mechanisms that are expected to take place at lower probabilities. Therefore, the negative impacts and risks associated with HGT must be taken into account in considering the overall biosafety of any GM crop."

This is sound advice, but it is clearly advice that the Chinese government either unknowingly or willingly chose to reject in approving three new varieties of deadly, transgenic soy.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.reuters.com

http://www.business-standard.com

http://www.responsibletechnology.org