China’s GMO rejection of Indian rice raises new trade questions
China has rejected Indian rice shipments over alleged GMO presence, even though Indian exporters and officials say there is no commercial cultivation of GM rice in the country.
China’s rejection of Indian rice shipments over alleged genetically modified contamination has opened a new trade dispute in one of the world’s most important grain markets. BusinessLine reported that Indian exporters and industry experts were openly surprised by the claim, arguing that India does not commercially grow GM rice and that the country still operates under legal restrictions affecting the production, sale and import of GM foods.
The article points to India’s regulatory record to support that argument. In October 2022, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee approved the release of a GM food crop for the first time, the mustard hybrid DMH-11. But India’s Supreme Court later stayed its commercial release, allowing only limited action under existing rules and testing conditions. That means the case did not create a legal pathway for commercial GM rice cultivation.
Another layer comes from the food-safety regulator FSSAI. During proceedings in the Rajasthan High Court, the regulator said that the GM food rules envisaged under Section 22(2) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 had still not been fully operationalized. The court also barred the manufacture, sale and import of GM food. Taken together, those facts strengthen the Indian position that the contamination allegation is, at minimum, difficult to reconcile with domestic law and crop approvals.
In volume terms, the issue is not large enough to threaten India’s entire rice export program, but it is still commercially meaningful. India exported more than 14 million tonnes of non-basmati rice to global markets in 2024-25, while shipments to China totaled 180,805 tonnes worth $79.43 million. During April through January of the current fiscal year, exports to China had already reached 186,013 tonnes, though their value was lower at $65.59 million.
Experts quoted by BusinessLine do not expect China’s move to damage India’s standing in other rice markets. Some, however, see the rejection as a possible bargaining move in a broader geopolitical setting, especially after India overtook China to become the world’s largest rice producer in 2024-25. Former Agriculture Commissioner J.S. Sandhu said the Indian Council of Agricultural Research can certify that no GMO rice variety has been recommended for cultivation in the country.
That leaves the dispute extending well beyond a laboratory objection to a few cargoes. For India, it is about export credibility and market access; for China, it can function as a non-tariff lever; and for the wider grain trade, it is another reminder that sanitary and technology-based claims can quickly become trade barriers with real commercial consequences.