Met gentech besmette rijst vastgehouden in Rotterdamse haven

Vondst partij gemanipuleerde rijst

De douane in Rotterdam houdt een partij van 20.000 ton rijst vast, omdat die mogelijk is vermengd met niet toegestane genetisch gemanipuleerde rijst.

Het gaat om de variant LL Rice 601 en daarvan zijn de gevolgen voor mens en natuur nog niet onderzocht. De partij verdachte rijst komt uit het Amerikaanse New Orleans en was bestemd voor klanten in Groot-Brittannië en Duitsland.

De Europese Unie wil alle genetisch aangepaste rijst van dit type buiten de deur houden tot die uitvoering is getest en ongevaarlijk blijft. Ook Nederland wordt dan ook dringend verzocht de rijst te controleren.

Bron: RTV Rijnmond - 31-08-2006

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EU wil uitleg over verboden GGO in Amerikaanse rijst

De Europese Commissie eist van de Amerikaanse overheden meer informatie over een 'besmetting' van conventionele Amerikaanse rijst met een genetisch gemanipuleerde soort. Die GGO is niet toegelaten in Europa. Volgens de milieu-organisatie Friends of the Earth gaat het om een product van Bayer.

Europa is vrijdagavond laat geïnformeerd over de aanwezigheid van GGO-rijst in conventionele lange korrelrijst uit de VS. Volgens de Amerikanen is er geen enkel gevaar voor het milieu of de gezondheid. Ook al is deze specifieke GGO niet toegelaten op de Europese markt.

Europa eist meer uitleg over de risico-analyse en over de detectiemethodes. Europa vraagt ook de fabrikant om meer uitleg. Het gaat om Bayer, en de rijstsoort LL Rice 601. De rijst is gemanipuleerd om bestand te zijn tegen een onkruidverdelger, maar heeft in geen enkel land een officiële erkenning.

De testen op het veld zouden vijf jaar geleden zijn stopgezet. Hierdoor rijzen er meteen ook vragen over hoelang de besmetting al aanhoudt. De overheden zijn pas zeer recent verwittigd. De Commissie wacht op antwoorden alvorens te beslissen welke maatregelen moeten genomen worden.

Bron: Belga - 21/08/2006

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Press release Friends of the Earth:
EU URGED TO BAN NORTH AMERICAN RICE

US rice contaminated by illegal GM strain
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Brussels, August 21, 2006 - Friends of the Earth Europe has today called on the European Commission to immediately restrict imports of American rice after the US Department for Agriculture (USDA) revealed that the US food chain has been contaminated with an illegal and untested genetically modified (GM) strain [1].

The US announcement states that conventional long-grain rice on the market has been contaminated by a GM rice that was grown at experimental test sites between 1998 and 2001. The statement does not reveal how widespread the contamination is or how the contamination occurred. Friends of the Earth Europe is calling on the European Union to follow the example of Japan, which suspended US rice imports on Saturday. [2]

Adrian Bebb, GM Food Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said, “This is a complete scandal. The biotech industry has failed once again to control its experiments and lax regulations in the US have allowed consumers worldwide to be put at risk. The European Union must immediately suspend US rice imports until consumers can be guaranteed protection from untested and illegal foods.”

Europe imports approximately 70 million Euros worth of US rice every year [3]. The source of the contamination is apparently an experimental GM rice called LLRICE601, produced by German-based biotechnology company Bayer. This experimental rice is engineered to withstand application of the herbicide glufosinate, but it has not been approved for human consumption anywhere in the world and has not undergone any official assessments to determine its health or environmental impact. According to Bayer the GM rice “is present in some samples of commercial rice seed at low levels” even though field-testing ended five years ago. Bayer informed the USDA of the contamination on 31 July 2006.

As well as calling for an immediate import ban, Friends of the Earth Europe has called for an investigation by authorities in the US and Europe into the full extent of the contamination and for Bayer to release all the necessary information into the public domain on the safety testing and detection methods for LLRICE601. “It is vital that Bayer is forced to reveal all information about how this contamination has occurred over such a long time scale. Contamination of the food chain is totally unacceptable and must be prevented in the future," Mr Bebb added.

This latest case of GM contamination echoes a GM maize scandal in March last year, in which the biotech company Syngenta admitted to selling an experimental and illegal GM maize variety to US farmers for four years. Maize exports to Europe were contaminated with the illegal maize, and the European Commission put in place emergency measures to prevent the import of contaminated maize into the EU. These measures are still in place [4].

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For more information, please contact:
Adrian Bebb, GM Food Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe: Tel: +49 80 25 99 1951; Mobile: +49 160 949 01163; email: adrian.bebb@foeeurope.org

Rosemary Hall, Communications Officer for Friends of the Earth Europe: Tel: +32 25 42 61 05; Mobile: +32 485 930 515; rosemary.hall@foeeurope.org

Notes

[1] The announcement was made late on Friday 18 August in the US.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2006/08/0307.xml
[2] http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/4128520.html
[3] UNCTAD http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/rice/market.htm#cce
[4] http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2005/AB_15_April_maize_import.htm

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Op GM Watch.org:
- EU may stop unauthorized GM rice imports Wednesday (22/08/06)

- Tainted rice threatens U.S. market (22/08/06)

En verder:
Unapproved Rice Strain Found in Wide Area (by ANDREW POLLACK - New York Times - 22/08/06)

'Fact sheet on the illegal release of Bayer Crop Science's rice LL601' van Save our seeds.

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Press release European Commission:

IP/06/1120

Brussels, 23 August 2006
Commission requires certification of US rice exports to stop unauthorised GMO entering the EU
The European Commission has today adopted a decision requiring imports of long grain rice from the USA to be certified as free from the unauthorised GMO LL Rice 601. The decision has been taken in light of the recent announcement by the US authorities that this unauthorised GMO had been found in samples of commercial rice on the US market (see MEX/06/0821). The emergency measures adopted by the Commission today mean that, with immediate effect, only consignments of US long grain rice that have been tested by an accredited laboratory using a validated testing method and accompanied by a certificate assuring the absence of LL Rice 601, can enter the EU.

Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, said "We have strict legislation in place in the EU to ensure that any GM product put on the European market has undergone a thorough authorisation procedure based on scientific assessment. There is no flexibility for unauthorised GMOs - these cannot enter the EU food and feed chain under any circumstances. The measures we have taken today will ensure that unauthorised GM rice is not inadvertently imported. EU consumers can rely on the high level of protection that our GM rules afford them."

Under EU food safety legislation, only GMOs which have undergone a thorough scientific assessment and authorisation procedure may be put on the EU market. The decision adopted today therefore aims to prevent the unauthorised LL Rice 601 from reaching EU consumers, by ensuring that only rice certified as free from this GMO enters the EU. The measures will enter into effect immediately, and are expected to be reviewed after 6 months.

Member States authorities are responsible for controlling the imports at their borders and for preventing any contaminated consignments from being placed on the market. In addition, they should carry out controls on products already on the market, to ensure that they are free from LL Rice 601. Business operators importing rice from the USA also have responsibility for ensuring that LL Rice 601 does not enter the EU food chain and that imports are certified as free from this unauthorised GMO, in accordance with the EU food law principle that operators are responsible for the safety of the food or feed that they place on the market.

The presence of the unauthorised LL Rice 601 was first notified to the European Commission by the US authorities on 18 August. The Commission immediately requested further information from the USA and from Bayer, the company responsible for producing LL Rice 601. The extent to which the US supply chain has been contaminated is still unknown, which is why the Commission though it was appropriate to proceed immediately with the adoption of emergency measures. The Commission will continue actively monitoring the situation and adapt the measures if necessary.

As is the case with all such emergency measures, the Commission will submit the decision to the Member State experts for review within 10 days. To this effect, the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health will meet urgently on Friday 25 August.