The European Union has imposed new stricter testing rules on all imports of rice from China, claiming recent imports contained a genetically altered strain that is banned in the E.U.
 
Furthermore the European Commission is likely to demand a compulsory certification for the imports of Chinese rice products that could contain unauthorized GMOs after such products were discovered in the EU market between 2006 and 2007.

China has been the subject of the largest number of safety alerts logged by E.U. authorities, and the country has been put under increased pressure to improve the quality of its exports.

Under EU food safety legislation, only GMOs that have undergone a strict authorization procedure may be put on the EU market.