**1. Introduction**

As a fast developing country, China is the largest consumer and importer of genetically modified (GM) soybean [1]. The import of soybeans to China reached more than 95 million tons in 2017, which were used as processing materials [2]. Chinese consumers oppose GM foods due to their concerns about food safety [3]. Concerns of the potential risks of the GM foods are growing, particularly among civil society groups [4]. The lack of effective communication on GM foods leads to asymmetric information [5,6]. Mandatory labelling is considered a practical way to address the issue of asymmetric information in food labelling [7]. In order to disclose foods that are or may be bioengineered, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law of U.S., passed by Congress in July 2016, directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish the national mandatory standard. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which was announced in 2018, is simply a marketing label, and does not convey any information about the health, safety, or environmental attributes of the GM foods in comparison with their non-GM counterparts [8]. Similarly, China currently adopts qualitative mandatory labeling according to the catalogues, and the labelling catalogue includes 17 kinds of GM products within five categories, including

**Citation:** Zhang, M.; Fan, Y.; Cao, J.; Chen, L.; Chen, C. Willingness to Pay for Enhanced Mandatory Labelling of Genetically Modified Soybean Oil: Evidence from a Choice Experiment in China. *Foods* **2021**, *10*, 736. https:// doi.org/10.3390/foods10040736

Academic Editors: Adrián Rabadán and Rodolfo Bernabéu

Received: 17 February 2021 Accepted: 22 March 2021 Published: 30 March 2021

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soybeans, rape, corn, cotton, and tomato. As one of the directly processed GM agricultural products, the label of the GM soybean oil merely tells customers "the raw materials are GM soybeans." The usefulness of the simple GM food label is limited for consumers, because the current labelling only allows differentiating GM foods from non-GM food products [9]. Better information could increase consumers' support for GM foods, which further determines the implementation and success of the mandatory labelling policy [10]. However, mandatory labelling conveying the health and safety attributes for the improved transparency and openness of information inevitably leads to an increase in production cost, such as detecting cost. Therefore, this study investigates consumers' preferences for mandatory labelling conveying the health and safety attributes of the GM soybean oil.

Focusing on the developed countries, i.e., the US and European countries, much research has investigated consumer attitudes towards the mandatory labelling of the GM foods [11,12]. A research consensus has been reached that consumers may have greater demands for the mandatory labelling of the GM foods [11–14]. However, there are limited systematic studies on consumers' willingness to pay for the extra cost associated with the mandatory labelling information, especially on consumer preference and willingness to pay (WTP) for mandatory labelling conveying health and safety attributes. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no empirical study has been reported on WTP for the mandatory labelling of the GM foods in China.

Given the importance of mandatory labelling, this paper contributes to the literature by empirically analyzing urban consumers' preferences for mandatory labelling conveying health and safety attributes. Additional insights are provided for public service by evaluating consumers' WTP for the enhanced labelling of the GM soybean oil, including allergen presence labelling, nutrient and compositional change labelling, and traceability codes.
