A US trade official failed to win a pledge from China that its gene-altered crop policy won't halt US$1 billion of annual soybean imports from America.
David Hegwood, US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman's top adviser, said after a day of talks that the Chinese government "needs more time to consider the situation, so we didn't go into too much detail and didn't get any commitments."
China plans to enforce rules on Dec. 21 that require products such as Monsanto Co's Roundup Ready soybeans to win agriculture ministry safety certificates to clear customs.
There won't be enough time for these products, which make up more than two-thirds of US corn and soybean crops, to be tested, traders said.
"Traders won't want to take a chance on" whether the deadline will block soybean imports, which will probably lead to a decline in shipments, said T.K. Fan, associate director of grain trader Toepfer International in Singapore.
China's strategy is "to regulate imports so as not to create pressure on prices during the harvest season."
China's soybean harvest this year, which starts at the end of this month, may rise 10 percent to a record 17 million tonnes after increased spending on fertilizers and equipment boosted yields, the government said last month.
China's soybean imports in the first seven months of this year fell 36 percent from a year ago to 4.97 million tonnes, mostly because of confusion caused when China implemented its gene-modified crop rules in March, which halted shipments in April and May. Shipments resumed in June because China agreed to delay introduction of its certification program until December.
Field tests in China of Roundup Ready and other gene-modified varieties of soybeans and corn began in July after six months of delays caused by confusion over what kind of data the ministry required.
The field tests required to obtain the certificate probably won't be completed by Dec. 21, Eddie Zhu, Monsanto's head of regulatory affairs in Beijing, said last month.
Hegwood arrived in Beijing this week for talks. China hasn't responded to a proposal for more talks in Washington.
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