For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

Chinese GMO-free advocates are currently facing a struggle in Beijing to force the Chinese Agriculture Ministry to release the studies that led to the registration of the World’s number one pesticide, Monsanto’s Roundup.

The Chinese Agriculture Ministry has so far followed the lead of regulators in Europe (EFSA) and the U.S. (EPA) (1) by stating that the study/studies that led to them making a decision regarding the safety of Roundup, will not be released because they contain Monsanto’s commercial secrets and because divulging them would threaten personal privacy information (2). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also refused a request from the Global GMO Free Coalition to release the studies used by the Chinese authorities.

China is currently the world’s largest producer and largest exporter of glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), and is a major importer of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, with Roundup accounting for 80% of the herbicide market (3) in China. China is also the world’s largest importer of Roundup Ready soybeans, corn and canola products.

The only toxicology study that the Chinese Agriculture Ministry has referenced to justify its 1988 registration of Roundup is an unpublished ‘acute toxicology’ study (2) conducted by Younger Laboratories for Monsanto. However, it has not released the full study.

Questions Surrounding the Younger Laboratories Study/Studies

Following a Global GMO Free Coalition (GGFC) investigation we were unable to find a Younger Laboratories Roundup / glyphosate study dated December 23 1985 (2), as referenced by the Chinese Agriculture Ministry. In fact , Younger Laboratories was no longer doing toxicology testing at this time, according to private sources connected to the lab.

However, we did find 2 Younger Laboratories studies that were conducted in 1970 on glyphosate -not the full Roundup formulation.

“Glyphosate toxicological risk assessments used by regulators to determine an ‘acceptable level of harm’ to the environment and human health do not account for the synergistic toxicity generated by so-called ‘inactive ingredients’ within glyphosate formulations like Roundup which increase its toxicity by several orders of magnitude,” Sayer Ji of Greenmedinfo.com, commented.