Law experts in China expect the government to impose severe penalties on those who grow and sell illegal genetically-modified (GM) foods.
This issue has provoked immense public concern over the country's food security, after cases of illegality were detected in Liaoning and Xinjiang in the first half of this year.
So far, China has only allowed two agricultural products -- cotton and papaw -- to be genetically modified for commercial use, while banning work on any other GM foods outside labs and research centers.
Professor Xiong Yongming, of the Law School of Nanchang University, said, existing administrative laws and regulations, mostly in the form of government circulars, dominating the guidelines on GM foods production and are too general and ineffective.
China started to issue administrative regulations on genetic engineering in 1993, followed by a number of provisions and administrative measures covering the safety of GM foods from both home and abroad.
Although those guidelines acknowledge and underscore the possible damage GM foods can cause to the environment, public health, natural resources and ecological system, they are powerless to severely punish the violators because there are no stringent laws targeting the abuse of genetic technology.
It is possible that GM foods may endanger people's health through slow and gradual processes, but the ramifications are hard to gauge especially when weighing their impending threats to public security, Xiong explained, adding that the attempt to have criminal law dealing with illegal GM foods needs careful deliberation before being put into practice.
However, despite there being insufficient evidence suggesting the insecurity of GM foods, the expansion of such products penetrating the process from seedling to trading may challenge market order, said Liu Changqiu, researcher from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
It is better to create a new legal provision to control genetic technology, a practice initiated by several European countries, such as, Finland, which has criminal laws covering GM foods, Liu said.
However, Professor Huang Mingru, from the Law School of Xiangtan University, argued that the criminal laws could end up with too many provisions due to having to be amended every time whenever a new problem emerges.
To stop illegal GM foods spreading under present condition, the legal experts suggested that perpetrators should be charged with violating business operational laws -- a provisional countermeasure that could increase the costs of illegal GM production.
