media advisory
Friends of the Earth International
unapproved gm rice found: restrictions in
u.s. rice urgently needed
AUGUST 21, 2006 -- Friends of the Earth
International has today called on countries
importing long-grain rice from the United
States to immediately restrict imports of US
rice following the official announcement that
rice supplies have been contaminated with a
genetically modified (GM) strain of rice
illegal for human consumption.
A US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
statement revealed last Friday August 18,
2006 that a GM rice unapproved for human
consumption has contaminated commercial rice
seed [1]. The statement did not reveal how
widespread the contamination is nor when or
how it took place.
Friends of the Earth International is
calling on countries importing long-grain
rice from the US to follow the example of
Japan, where the ministry of agriculture,
forestry and fisheries announced on Saturday
August 19, 2006 that Japan was suspending US
long-grain rice imports. [2]
Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth
International GM campaign coordinator based
in Nigeria said:
"This is a complete scandal. The biotech
industry has once again failed to control its
products and lax regulations in the US mean
that consumers have been put at risk.
Countries importing US rice should
immediately suspend US long-grain rice
imports until they can guarantee that no
illegal and untested rice is present. ”
German biotech giant Bayer produces the GM
rice known as ‘LL601’, a variety that was not
approved in any country of the world and has
not passed the safety assessments necessary
to protect human health and the
environment.
GM rice LL601 is engineered to withstand
application of the herbicide glufosinate.
According to Bayer the GM rice “is present in
some samples of commercial rice seed at low
levels” [1]
Even though it was field tested only
between 1998 and 2001, Bayer informed the
USDA of the contamination on 31 July
2006.
Bayer claims that it is not intending to
commercialise LL601. But because it is now
“in the marketplace” as a result of
accidental contamination, Bayer has applied
to the US Authorities to approve it, which
will effectively limit liability on the
company for the incident.
The US exported more than 3 million tonnes
of rice in 2005. [3]
Friends of the Earth International has
called for an investigation by authorities in
the US and countries importing US long-grain
rice into the full extent of the
contamination.
Friends of the Earth International is also
calling for Bayer to release all the
necessary information on the safety testing
and detection methods for LL601 into the
public domain.
More than a decade after the first GM crop
appeared on market shelves, biotech
corporations are still failing to deliver
their promised GM crops with clear benefits
for consumers or farmers. Instead, GM corps
are increasingly creating new problems and
posing new risks for human health and the
environment. [4]
for more information contact
Juan Lopez, Friends of the Earth
International, Tel: +39-333 1498049 (Italian
mobile)
Yuri Onodera, Friends of the Earth Japan,
Tel : +81-906 504 9494 (Japanese mobile)
Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria,
Tel: + 234 803 727 43 95 (Nigerian
mobile)
notes
[1] The USDA announcement is online here:
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2006/08/0307.xml
[2] media reports are available online,
for instance here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/4128520.html
[3] In 2005, the US exported 3,800,000
tonnes of rice
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/ers/89001/2005/table27.xls
Top export markets for US long-grain rice are
Mexico, Japan, Haiti, Canada, Ghana,
Nicaraqua, Costa Rica, Turkey.
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/ers/89001/2005/table30.xls
[4] For more information see
http://www.foei.org/gmo/index.html
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