The American Soybean Association (ASA) and the U. S. Biotech Crops Alliance (USBCA) members sent a letter this week to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, Secretary Penny Pritzker and Ambassador Michael Froman urging them to continue pushing for timely, science based biotechnology approvals in China.

With the upcoming U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) scheduled to take place this weekend, USBCA is looking to the United States government to follow-up on the short term commitments made by China to advancethe full queue of products, and specifically to issue safety certificates for all productsthat have cleared the National Biosafety Committee by year end.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the United States, a series of concrete commitments were established aimed at creating an enabling environment for agricultural innovation between the U.S. and China, which included an improved biotech import-approval process and reiterating the need for a timely, transparent, predictable, science-based approval process.

ASA and USBCA also sent a letter this week in response to the Strategic Agricultural Innovation Dialogue (SAID), a deliverable of the 2014 JCCT and held on the margins of President Xi’s State Visit, which enabled both the U.S. and China to discuss goals of fostering agricultural innovation.

ASA along with all the USBCA members look forward to seeing SAID continue with a focused work plan aimed at supporting policy improvement and strengthening cooperation.

Click here to see a copy of each letter.