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On May 3, 2023, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Agriculture, Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) published updated regulatory guidelines supporting the introduction of gene-edited seeds into the Canadian market.

On April 28, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) announced the issuance of new and renewed biosafety certificates for domestic cultivation and production of 113 genetically engineered (GE) events and the first ever biosafety certificate for a gene-edited event.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is preparing for commercial cultivation of domestically developed genetically engineered (GE) crops.

Nigeria has taken an increasingly active role in biotechnology research and development in Africa – spurred by the solid support of the Government of Nigeria (GON). In September 2022, Nigeria hosted regulators from Mozambique and Ethiopia to learn more about Nigeria’s biotechnology regulatory experience.

Algeria does not develop, commercialize or import genetically engineered products. The Ministry of Agriculture’s decree of December 24, 2020, prevents agricultural genetically engineered product development, commercialization as well as import into Algeria.

This report provides updated information about the adoption of agricultural biotechnology in Vietnam. Since approving all outstanding applications for food and feed use in August 2021, Vietnam has not resumed its regulatory process for acknowledging and reviewing new applications.

This report assesses the agricultural biotechnology sector in the Netherlands, and covers related production, trade, and policies. It includes topics related to genetic engineering and innovative plant, animal, and microbial biotechnologies.

While Colombia's regulatory environment remains friendly toward the adoption of biotech-derived commodities and other innovative technologies, Congressional anti-biotechnology initiatives continue posing a threat, risking the benefits to consumers and the agricultural sector. In 2021, genetically engineered corn area planted grew 31 percent, reaching record figures, and genetically engineered cotton area planted recovered 55 percent compared to 2020.

Despite private sector support for biotechnology, Venezuela’s ban on the domestic use of and research on modern biotechnology-derived agriculture remains in place. The backbone of this ban is the Seed Law of December 2015, which also prohibits the importation of genetically-engineered seeds.

The legal and regulatory situation to allow the planting of genetically engineered (GE) crops in Ecuador remains relatively the same as 2021. Commercial cultivation of GE crops is not permitted, however cultivation for research is allowed and an exception exists for GE products without recombinant or foreign DNA in the genome. A ruling by Ecuador’s Constitutional Court in early 2022 now makes it more difficult for the President to authorize exceptions to the GE ban.

Peru continues to enforce the extended biotechnology moratorium. In February 2021, Peru extended the previous ten-year biotechnology moratorium for another fifteen years. Similar to the previous moratorium, Peru has yet to notify the measure to the World Trade Organization. In general, biotechnology remains misunderstood by the public in Peru.

Following the approval of a GE potato variety in July 2021, the Government of Indonesia approved four GE corn events for domestic commercial cultivation in February 2022. The U.S. exported nearly $2.2 billion in GE-derived products to Indonesia in 2021.