China approves Syngenta's Viptera corn: reports

Chinese authorities have informed some agriculture industry officials that the government has approved US imports of a type of genetically modified corn developed by Syngenta AG, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

However, three sources at large Chinese importers told Reuters they had not received notice about an impending approval.

The sources said that even though China's bio-safety committee had cleared the strain from a food safety standpoint, the agriculture ministry needed to give its stamp of approval.

"The final decision will probably come in January or February next year," said one of the sources at a State-owned trading firm.

China's Agriculture Ministry declined to comment and a Syngenta spokesman said in an e-mail that the firm would make an announcement on the import approval of Agrisure Viptera corn, known as MIR 162, when it receives official documentation.

A US government spokesperson also told Reuters that US has not received official notification from China of approval for imports of the genetically modified corn at the center of lawsuits against seed maker Syngenta AG.

Syngenta said on Friday it was expecting China to clear imports soon.

The issue has also created turmoil in the US distillers' grain (DDGS) market, as import restrictions of DDGS in July resulted in Chinese orders grinding to a halt.

However, industry sources said unexpected import orders of DDGS from Chinese buyers was a sign that an approval was imminent.

Chinese firms last week bought as much as 900,000 tons of DDGS from the US, said the China National Grain and Oils Information Center (CNGOIC), a State think-tank.

Industry sources said a majority of the cargoes were purchased by State-owned COFCO, which could have been tipped off about an imminent approval of MIR 162 corn.

COFCO declined to comment.