November 6, 2014
US asked to take up biotech issue with China at APEC meeting
US President Barack Obama may take up the issue of biotechnology with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, when he attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, which Beijing is hosting this month.
The American Soybean Association (ASA) and the US Biotech Crops Alliance-- along with the US Grains Council, National Corn Growers Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation-- have asked the National Security Council and the US Department of State to raise the issue of biotechnology approvals in China, stressing the importance of market access for agriculture in the world's second-biggest economy.
ASA and the other producer groups have also sent a letter to US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew requesting that of the issue of regulatory approval procedures for biotechnology products be raised in conversations with Vice Premier Li Keqiang.
"China is a key export market for US farmers. Exports of US corn, soybeans and dried distillers grains to China totalled over $16 billion in 2013. This trade has been put at risk by China's restrictive regulatory approval procedures for biotechnology products," the letter said.
China has so far not decided whether to allow the widespread use of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.