Regulation and Policy 

New Grain Standards Adopted (December 1, 1999) 

China has adopted grain standards that conform to international norms. 

The eight new standards, issued by the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, will go into effect on April 1 next year. 

The grain standards now in effect were established in 1986, and were applicable when China was dominated by a planned economy, which is no longer the case. 

The new standards will put China in line with nations that are part of the World Trade Organization, the group that China will soon be joining, barring unforeseen hurdles. 

Three of the new grain standards are mandatory, while the others are recommended. 

The mandatory standards apply to rice, wheat and corn, and must be used when buying, storing, processing or selling the three types of grain. 

The five recommended standards cover high-quality rice, high-quality wheat-including strong and weak gluten wheat, corn for animal feed and starch fermentation. 

The new standards will eliminate regional differences. New compulsory standards have cancelled the diversities in regions and planting seasons. They are intended to grade the grains so that consumers and businesses know the quality of what they are buying. 

The new standards are based on an assessment of grain quality of the past 10 years. While some technical norms have been strengthened in the new standards, they won't mean a loss of income for the 900 million farmers in China. 

The quality supervision and grain bureaus and the Ministry of Agriculture will hold training programs to inform farmers of the new standards. Farmers have six months to prepare for the new standards. 

The new standards should encourage farmers to plant high-quality grains that consumers want rather than low-quality grains that will sit and rot in warehouses.