At the end of annual trade consultations, officials from China and the United States say they will give attention to their approval processes for genetically engineered crops, said Reuters. The meeting in Chicago was punctuated by China’s announcement that it will accept imports of Syngenta’s MIR 162 corn, approved for cultivation in April 2010 by USDA. U.S. officials have raised repeatedly their concern that China takes too long to review and approve biotech crops. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the countries agreed to discuss the issue further, said Reuters. It quoted China’s agriculture minister as saying regulation of GE products “is a priority in China-U.S. cooperation and we are making smooth progress.”
In a statement, Froman said the meeting produced concrete results, including, ““The dialogue we have agreed to to ease the adoption of our innovative agriculture products, will benefit corn and soybean farmers right here in America’s heartland.”