China: MARA Issues First Ever Gene-Editing Guidelines

On January 24, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) issued Guidelines for Safety Evaluation of Gene-Edited Plants for Agricultural Use (Trial), which for the first time establish application procedures and requirements for gene-edited plants. The Guidelines, which cover gene-edited plants that do not introduce exogenous genes, were not notified to the WTO and MARA is not soliciting domestic comments. This report contains an unofficial translation of the Guidelines.