The development In the month of August 2014, 75 containers, totaling 1,313.3 tons of genetically modified (GM) yellow corn originated from the United States have been rejected and shipped back under the full instruction of the local PRC customs officer. In addition to this quantity, about 1.4 million metric tons of US corn shipments have been rejected by China since mid-November 2013. The background According to the latest public notice promulgated in 2012 by Ministry of Agriculture of P. R. China, a total of 19 GM agricultural products have been approved for imports and 8 of them are corn. But "Agrisure Viptera" (Coded MIR 162) - a strain of corn developed for insect resistance - is not in the list. The manufacturer has submitted applications to the Chinese government for approval of MIR 162 several times since 2010 and although MIR 162 has been approved by most major markets including US and European Union, the application is still under Chinese government's review. Link to the previous advice on the PRC approach to GM cargoes may be found on the right hand side. The legal position The Regulations on Administration of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms Safety states the following provisions ( freely translated ): Article 33 Any company outside the territory of China that exports to the People's Republic of China agricultural genetically modified organisms to be used as raw materials for processing shall make an application to the competent agricultural administrative department of the State Council; for those meeting the following conditions and passing the safety evaluation, the competent agricultural administrative department of the State Council shall issue a safety certificate of agricultural genetically modified organisms. Article 34 When introducing agricultural genetically modified organisms from outside the territory of the People's Republic of China or exporting agricultural genetically modified organisms to the People's Republic of China, the in