ASTA Representatives Travel to Beijing

ASTA representatives traveled to Beijing, China December 14-18 as a follow up on several activities earlier this year. In July, ASTA hosted a Chinese delegation of government officials to discuss phytosanitary barriers to trade, primarily regarding corn seed movement. ASTA hosted a second delegation in November to discuss the use of molecular markers and the proposed changes to China’s Plant Variety Protection law, including its approach to essentially derived varieties. The U.S. delegation also discussed China’s testing capabilities for the U.S. Federal Orders on tomato and pepper seed. For more information, or to join ASTA’s China Working Group, please contact Mary Scott.