China has rejected nearly 1 million tons of U.S. corn since November 2013 when it announced it would refuse any shipments with Viptera – an engineered trait that offers insect resistance and the reduction of mycotoxins. However, prior to November 2013 China imported nearly 1 million tons of corn including Viptera from both the U.S. and Argentina. As a policy, China’s approval process for genetically engineered traits only begins after an exporting nation’s approval process has been completed placing China years behind the rest of the world, and in the case of Viptera, four year behind. Some believe that the refusal on China’s part has political or trade motivations behind it, but no matter the motivations the rejection has caused grain handlers and exporters to refuse to sell corn carrying the trait, and the North American Export Grain Association and the National Grain and Feed Association to call on Syngenta to stop selling Viptera immediately. With the cost of bringing new genetically engineered seed technology to market being upwards of $100 million, developments such as these could cause a paralysis of technological advancement.
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