Search

Table 3.19 SPS-related STCs raised against China, 1 January 2018-13 April 2021
STC: Proposed amendments to the implementation regulations on safety assessment of agricultural GMOs
Member(s) raising STC, (Members supporting the concern): Paraguay, United States
First raised/last raised, (number of times subsequently raised): 2015/2019, (9)

3.170. The Law on Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine and its Implementing Regulations regulate the inspection of animals, plants, and related products that enter, exit, or transit through China; (...) The Catalogue of Entry-Exit Commodities Subject to Inspection and Quarantine list all the imports and exports subject to statutory inspection by the entry and exit inspection and quarantine authorities prior to their commercialization (or exit) into (from) China. The current catalogue is contained in GACC Announcement No. 220, 2019. During the review period, the GACC issued revised measures for the supervision and/or inspection and/or quarantine of imports (and exports) of various products, including (...) genetically modified products;(...) genetic materials of animals; (...).

3.171. China has so far approved the certificates of import safety only for the following genetically engineered crops for processing as raw materials: soybeans, corn, rapeseed, cotton, beets, and papayas, and their products. As indicated by the authorities during China's previous Review, safety evaluation is required for research, testing, production, processing, operation, and import of agricultural GMOs in China. This is undertaken by China's National Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms Safety Council. China's agricultural GMO safety assessment systems are governed by the Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants, Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified Animals, and Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified Microorganisms for Animals, as well as several measures on safety assessment, testing, and regulation of agricultural GMOs. Reportedly in 2018, MARA amended the regulations on safety assessment, import approval, and labelling of agricultural GMOs; apparently these regulations provide for additional in-country trials and studies on new biotech events as part of the dossier submission process.

3.172. The Implementing Regulations of the 2019 Food Safety Law require the introduction of conspicuous labelling requirements for genetically modified foods. China has not replaced the Regulations on Administration of the Labelling of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms with the Implementing Regulations of the Food Safety Law.

Table 3.20 Department rules related to price controls, 2021
Laws/regulations - Administrative Measures on the Price of Water Supplied by Conservancy Projects: NDRC and the Ministry of Water Resources Order No. 4, 2003

Table 3.21 Products/services subject to price controls by the Central Government, 2021
Item: Water supply of major water conservancy projects
Pricing contents: Prices for water supplied by trans-provincial (autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government) water conservancy projects directly under the Central Government
Remarks: Except for the prices negotiated voluntarily between suppliers and demanders

Table 3.22 Products/services subject to price controls by local governments, 2020
Product: Environment protection charges
Type of control/rationale: The compensated use and trading of pollutant discharge right and hazardous wastes disposal charges are subject to local government pricing regulation.
Rationale: public utilities
Regulation: Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment

Table 3.22 Products/services subject to price controls by local governments, 2020
Product: Urban household garbage disposal charges
Type of control/rationale: Urban household waste charges are subject to local government pricing regulation. Rationale: public utilities
Regulation: Circular on Implementing Urban Household Garbage Disposal Charges and Promoting Garbage Disposal Industrialization

Table 3.22 Products/services subject to price controls by local governments, 2020
Product: Sewage disposal charges
Type of control/rationale: Sewage disposal charges are subject to local government pricing regulation. Rationale: public utilities
Regulation: Measures for the Administration of Collection Standards for Pollutant Discharge Fees

3.196. China provided its last full notification on state trading enterprises (STEs) in 2018. The authorities indicate that a new notification would be submitted before mid-July 2021. (...) According to the authorities, state trading remains in place to ensure a stable supply and price of the products concerned, ensure food security, and protect exhaustible and non-recyclable natural resources and the environment.