China Consults on Administrative Measures for Labeling Agricultural GMOs

As revealed by an official notice¹ issued on Oct 17, 2023, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) is consulting on the revisions to Administrative Measures for Labeling Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)². Public opinions can be sent to [email protected] prior to November 17, 2023.

Major Revisions

• Revision to Paragraph 3 of Article 6 about the labeling method for products processed from agricultural GMO or from products containing GMO ingredient

The paragraph 3 of Article 6 in the current effective version stipulated that:

For products processed from agricultural GMO or from products containing agricultural GMO ingredient, if the genetically modified ingredients are no longer contained or cannot be detected in the final products for sales, these products shall be labeled as “This product is made from genetically modified × ×, but the final product no longer contains genetically modified ingredients” or labeled as “The processing ingredient of this product contains genetically modified XX, but the final product no longer contains genetically modified ingredients."

Now, this Draft changed the paragraph into: 

For products processed from agricultural GMO or from products containing agricultural GMO ingredient, they shall be labeled as “This product is made from genetically modified XX” or “The processing ingredient of this product contains genetically modified XX”.

Table 1: Comparison of the labeling method for products processed from agricultural GMO or from products containing agricultural GMO ingredient

• Addition of Article 12, which specifies the situation when “non-GM” cannot be labeled

A new article is added as Article 12: For organisms that have not been granted agricultural GMO safety certificates, the terms "non-genetically modified" shall not be used on their product labels or in use instructions.

This is not a new requirement, as it was partially mentioned in a Notice issued in 2018³. According to the Notice, for crops not authorized to be imported as raw materials and not approved to be commercially cultivated in China, and there’s no corresponding GM crop or processed product thereof in the market, then edible plant oil made from the crop shall not be labeled “non-GM”. The administration on GM advertising guided by a notification in 2015⁴ is with the same supervision idea: if there’s no corresponding GM crop or processed product thereof in the market, then it’s forbidden to use “non-GM” description for advertising.

To sum up, the addition of Article 12 is worth attention for it is the first time such requirements are included in a regulation and clarifies the situation when "non-GM" cannot be labeled.

• Amendment to the catalogue of agricultural GMO subject to mandatory GM labeling in the Appendix

Papaya, alfalfa, soy protein, soy pulp, corn bran, cornmeal, cottonseed oil, and cottonseed meal are newly added into the catalogue of agricultural GMO subject to mandatory GM labeling, while GMO related to tomato is deleted. ChemLinked believes that the deletion is due to the absence of such product in the market—none of them have been produced in or imported to China. Due to the wide application scope of soy protein, stakeholders shall pay more attention to this Amendment.

Notably, this Draft raised the threshold for GM labeling. It is the first time that China sets a threshold for the GM content. For products listed in the catalogue, if the genetically modified ingredients from a single crop exceed 3% of the product's content, the product shall be subject to GM labeling.

Table 2: Comparison of the catalogue in the current effective version and this Draft

• Other small changes like updates on several descriptions and terms

E.g. “Customs Inspection (Declaration) Form” in Paragraph 5 of Article 8 is revised as “Customs Declaration Sheet” for China incorporated the two forms into one in 2018. The “Ministry of Agriculture” in this regulation are all changed into the “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs” in line with the institutional restructuring of the Ministry.

For further consultation or translation service, please email [email protected].

Recommended webinar: 

• Supervision of GM Foods in China