U.S. soybean shippers applaud China’s final safety certification

U.S. soybean shippers applaud China’s final safety certification    U.S. soybean shippers welcome the Chinese government’s announcement this week that it has issued a final safety certificate for soybeans and soybean product imports derived from biotech-enhanced Roundup Ready soybean seedstock.
   China made the decision after two years of field and food safety tests. Before the final safety certificate, the country has imported Roundup Ready soybeans under a series of interim certificates.
   The U.S. government first certified Roundup Ready soybeans in 1995 and it has since been approved by 38 other countries. In 2003, about 85 percent of the U.S. soybean crop was grown from Roundup Ready seed.
   In recent years, China has increased its imports of U.S. soybeans. Last year, U.S. soybean exports to China totaled 10.9 million metric tons, or 400 million bushels, valued at $2.8 billion. This represented more than 35 percent of all U.S. soy exports and more than 40 percent of China’s import requirements. Other large exporters of soybeans to China are Brazil and Argentina.
   However, the interim import safety certifications often caused problems for U.S. soybean shippers when they expired. China’s final safety certification for Roundup Ready soybeans comes before the scheduled April 30 expiration of the most recent interim safety certificate program.
   “At times, U.S. soybean exports have faced issues such as trade restrictions, import permit delays, confusion over biotechnology regulations and problems with transparency,” said Ron Heck, president of the St. Louis-based American Soybean Association, which represents 25,000 producer members. “This hurt U.S. soybean producers, and made life difficult for major buyers of U.S. soybeans in China who need to be able to operate knowing that they have a free and unencumbered flow of soybeans from the United States.”
   In December 2003, the association signed a cooperation agreement with representatives of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce & Animal By-Products in support of continued U.S. soybean exports to China. The agreement also calls for increased technical exchanges and activities.
   ASA opened its first office in China to market U.S.-grown soybeans in 1982.