China

Chinese lawmakers are considering a proposed law to require labeling of all foods that contain genetically modified organisms, says China Daily.

Chinese approval of Syngenta's genetically engineered corn "increases the likelihood the seed maker will pay settlements" to farmers and exporters who sued over lost export sales, according to lawyers interviewed by Reuters.

The developer of biotech corn and soybean varieties that tolerate 2,4-D and glyphosate pesticides said it is putting restriction on sales of the seeds to prevent the crops from moving into the marketing channel, said Reuters.

ADM, the world's largest corn processor, sued Syngenta in state court in Louisiana over cargoes of corn rejected by China because they contained an unapproved Syngenta variety, said Bloomberg.

China will reduce its tariffs on a range of Australian farm exports including beef and dairy as part of a free trade agreement, said Bloomberg. Australia said the trade agreement will give its products an advantage over competitors such as the United States and Canada.

An official at Dow AgroSciences says the company decided to restrict sales of its new genetically engineered Enlist corn and soybeans after "extensive talks with U.S. grain leaders who fear roiling trade with China," says Reuters.

China, India and Pakistan are providing supports to cotton growers in the face of low market prices, said the International Cotton Advisory Council.

Seed company Syngenta faces lawsuits by at least 130 farmers in 13 states over its MIR 162 strain of genetically engineered corn, says DTN. A judicial panel in Charleston, SC, is to decide on Dec 4 if the cases should be transferred to a single federal court...

USDA said it certified four processing plants in China's Shandong Province to cook and ship poultry meat to U.S. customers, the latest step in a decade-old proposal.

Lower dairy and meat prices led to a decline in the world Food Price Index for the seventh month in a row, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Serious drought cut yields sharply on as much as 15 percent of corn land in China, second to the United States as the world's top producer, says USDA. It estimates the harvest at 214 million tonnes, down 8 million tonnes from estimates made before the brunt of the dry weather was felt.

More than 40 percent of China's arable land suffers from degradation, such as the impact of erosion, fertility losses, climate change and pollution, according to the official news agency Xinhua, said Reuters.

Seed company Syngenta says it acted responsibly in selling two strains of genetically engineered corn that are approved for cultivation in the United States although not allowed for import by China, says DTN.

A large Chinese fishing company declared in a draft document "that it intended to circumvent international conservation limits on tuna – by simply ignoring them" with little fear of discipline for it, says the Guardian.

With China scaling back on its imports of cotton, world prices "dipped below 70 cents in early October, a level not seen in five years," said USDA, forecasting a 6 percent cent increase in global cotton stocks this marketing year.

"From a bedrock of traditional culture, and an engine of the post-Mao economic boom in the 1980s, agriculture has become a burden for China," says the New York Times, "and few in the countryside see their future there."

Seed company Syngenta, whose genetically engineered corn is blamed for a disruption in U.S. corn exports to China, says it applied in 2010 to cultivate the same variety in China, says Reuters.

Class-action lawsuits asking $1 billion in damages from seed company Syngenta were filed in federal court Iowa, Illinois and and Nebraska.