"China only allows 11 varieties of GM corn to be imported to the country, and the cargo was found with GM material outside the 11 varieties," said one source, who declined to be identified.
"The animal and plant quarantine department has barred it from entering China," the source said. He said it was supplied by a Japanese trading house.
The cargo of 50,000-60,000 tons was shipped to a port in the China's southern province of Guangdong in September. The problem was detected only in October, the same source said.
China's first ever rejection of a U.S. corn cargo, if confirmed, risks deepening a trade spat with the United States and a bigger diplomatic row with Japan.
Chinese quarantine officials at Shenzhen in Guangdong, which accounted for half of the 513,000 tonnes of corn imported by China last month, declined to comment.
"If we have any information there will be an official announcement," said an official at the local quarantine bureau.
A third corn trading source said he had heard one Japanese cargo was "in trouble" in the south of China. But he could not confirm it had been rejected.
Chinese corn imports have rocketed this year, and are expected to continue growing next year, after China's own harvest couldn't keep up with a boom in demand, mainly driven by production of corn-based animal feed.
It was unclear if the rejection of a cargo on GMO grounds would have a wider impact on the corn trade.
China has long used its tough rules on GMOs to keep U.S. corn out of its market, the world's second biggest. But, struggling to keep up with demand, it gave its first safety approval to a GMO strain of corn late last year and began importing again this year, the vast majority of it from the United States. (Reuters)
