China

Is China the great equalizer in the global GM debate?

/ Cami Ryan, PhD / Leave a comment

Genetically modified foods get U.S. traction, global debate

by Elizabeth Weise, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-03-17-Biotech17_cv_N.htm?loc=inters…

Biologically engineered crops continue to be embraced in both developed and developing nations. Last year, 330 million acres of biotech crops were planted in 25 countries, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Application (ISAAA) says. 

“China most definitely will have an influence in the future of agriculture and trade. They grow an incredible amount of food and fiber, and the more they embrace this technology, the more it’s going to be used,” says Eric Hoffman, the group’s genetic engineering policy campaigner in Washington, D.C. “There’s potential for China shifting the balance away from the movement that Europe is creating to stop these technologies.”

Percent_of_modified

China’s agricultural patents are on the rise…

/ Cami Ryan, PhD / Leave a comment

The China Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture reports that patent applications have doubled between 2002 and 2008. China’s applications (agricultural and other) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) have also increased. Between 2008 and 2009, they increased by a third, representing almost 7,800 extra international applications.

“Agricultural innovations in areas such as GM crops have rapidly increased in number over the past decade, said CCIPA researcher Liu Lijun. GM crop applications stood at 342 last year, compared with 108 in 2002. And these innovations have been applied across the country. In 2008, around four million hectares of transgenic cotton were planted in the country, accounting for 70 per cent of China’s cotton land.”


http://www.scidev.net/en/news/china-s-agricultural-patents-on-the-rise.html?u…