China publishes draft rules on herbicides for GM crops

BEIJING (Reuters) - China published draft rules on Friday outlining registration requirements for herbicides used on genetically modified crops, in another sign that Beijing is gearing up to allow greater use of GM technology in agriculture.

The rules include guidelines on efficacy trials for herbicides used on herbicide-tolerant corn and soybeans, according to the statement on the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' website.

China currently does not permit planting of any GM varieties of major feed or food crops, though most of its cotton is genetically modified.

Last month it drafted new rules that lay out requirements for integrating a GM trait into conventional seed varieties, which was seen by the industry as a major step towards greenlighting commercial production of GM corn.

The rules on herbicides are open for comment until Dec. 31.

(Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Jan Harvey)