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How to Export Genetically Modified Agriculturals GMOs to China

Tags: | MOA | Food | GMOs | 农业部 | 食品 | 转基因农产品 |



All Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) need to be imported into China. Regardless of their purpose of use (such as research, planting, production, processing, direct consumer goods, temporary transit, etc.), they must be approved by the China Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) to obtain relevant "China Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate",then can be permitted to export to China.

China's MOA has approved the imported Agricultural genetically modified organisms (GMO) , including genetically modified soybeans, genetically modified corn, genetically modified cotton, genetically modified rape, genetically modified sugar beet etc.

There are three types of "China GMOs Biosafety Certificate":

  • Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer)
  • Batch Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Trader)
  • Production GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Manufacturer)


  •    ☼  1. Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer)

    First of all, the GMOs developers must apply for the "Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer) "  for their seeds (parental GMOs), which can be called parental GMOs certificate; the Applicant is a Genetic Modification (GM ) technology research and development enterprise, and the main Genetic Modification (GM )  R&D companies include Monsanto, Bayer , Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer, Dow, BASF, etc.

    Only the parental Genetic Modification (GM ) Crops (GMO seeds) obtained the "Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer) " approved by the MOA, then the Genetic Modification (GM ) Crops grown from the GMO seeds (parental GMOs) can be permitted to import into China;

    By 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of China has approved about 100 "Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer) " to overseas developers. This type of application is very complicated. It requires a large amount of safety evaluation research data, and it usually takes several years to obtain the "Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer) " , so, won't elaborate on it here;

       ☼  2. Batch Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Trader)

    The prerequisite for applying for this type of certificate is that the Genetic Modification (GM ) Crops (parental generation GMOs) have obtained the "Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer) "   approved by the MOA;  Only the Genetic Modification (GM ) crops grown from parental generation GMO seeds which approved by MOA are allowed to be imported into China.

    And for each Import Batch, overseas consigners (such as exporters, agents, traders, farms, manufacturers, etc.) must also apply to the MOA  to obtain a “Batch Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Trader)” , then the Genetic Modification (GM ) crops can be allowed to be imported into China.

    In import customs clearance process, CIQ also needs to check that the genetic characteristics of the imported GMOs are consistent with the approved "Initial Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Developer) " before customs clearance;

    In addition, if an overseas exporter exports GMOs to China for the first time, the MOA needs to conduct a qualification review on all parties involved in the GMOs trade (including exporters, importers, manufacturers, etc.), and each related party needs to establish a safety management system for GMOs . Applicants must provide the relevant management system documents of the three parties to the MOA for review, only meet the requirements of China's GMOs safety regulations, then the “Batch Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Trader)” can be issued, Therefore, the first application for the “Batch Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Trader)” is required Longer time and higher cost;

    Apply for Batch Imported GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Trader) for the first time,
    The time need about 3-4 months, and the cost is $3000-$4000;
    For the Subsequent batch application, the time need about 2-3 months, and the cost is $2000-$3000;  

       ☼  3. Production GMOs Biosafety Certificate(For Manufacturer)

    Manufacturers who want to process GMOs into other consumer goods or semi-finished products (including planting) ,need to apply for " Production GMOs Biosafety Certificate (For Manufacturer)" ; this is nothing to do with importer and exporter so won’t elaborate on it here;