GMW: GM rice safety uncertain - European Commission / EC slammed

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GMW: GM rice safety uncertain - European Commission / EC slammed

" GM WATCH " <info

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 22:09:25 +0100

 

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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1.EU tightens rules to block tainted U.S. biotech rice - REUTERS

2.EU restrictions on illegal US rice imports inadequate - GREENPEACE

INTERNATIONAL

3.EC slammed for " complacency and connivance "

- GM Free Cymru

 

EXCERPTS: U.S. authorities insist that the GMO strain poses no risk to

public health or the environment. But the Commission, which says it

needs much more data about the case, was not so sure.

 

" We are still missing substantial amounts of information, " a senior

Commission official said. " For the moment, we do not share the view of

the

U.S. that there is no risk. "

 

They are also unhappy about U.S. information policy that caused a near

3-week delay in telling Brussels that traces of the unauthorised GMO

were found in the commercial rice. (ITEM 1)

 

Greenpeace International calls on the EC to stop reacting to

contamination 'accidents' and start preventing them instead. (ITEM 2)

 

In Japan, companies have been instructed by the Government not to

process or sell any U.S. long-grain rice they may already have

imported in

recent months. (ITEM 3)

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1.EU tightens rules to block tainted U.S. biotech rice

By Jeremy Smith

REUTERS, August 23 2006

http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN & storyID=200\

6-08-23T173242Z_01_L23130635_RTRIDST_0_FOOD-EU-USA-RICE-UPDATE-2.XML & rpc=66

 

BRUSSELS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The European Union has tightened

requirements on U.S. long grain rice imports to prove there are no

signs of an

unauthorised genetically modified organism (GMO), the European

Commission said on Wednesday.

 

The decision follows the discovery by U.S. authorities of trace amounts

of the unauthorised GMO rice strain in long grain samples that were

targeted for commercial use.

 

The rice, called LL Rice 601, is marketed by Germany's Bayer AG

(BAYG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) to withstand a weed-killing

pesticide and

grown in the United States.

 

" The European Commission has today adopted a decision requiring imports

of long grain rice from the USA to be certified as free of the

unauthorised GMO LL Rice 601, " Commission spokesman Philip Tod told a

news

briefing.

 

With immediate effect, only shipments of U.S. long grain rice tested by

an accredited laboratory using a validated detection method will be

able to enter EU markets. Shipments must be accompanied certificate

assuring the absence of LL 601.

 

The EU measure will be reviewed on Friday by a committee of EU-25 food

safety experts, and again in six months' time.

 

At present, no GMO rice is authorised for import or sale within the

25-country European Union, which imported 300,000 tonnes of U.S. rice

last

year, with 85 percent being long grain.

 

Biotech foods have run into strong resistance in Europe, where many

consumers view them as " Frankenstein " foods. The biotech industry insists

that its products are perfectly safe.

 

Green groups, which had called for the EU to suspend all its U.S. rice

imports, complained that the Commission's restrictions were a " minimal

response to a serious contamination problem " .

 

" While the Commission should be congratulated for a quick response to

this genetic contamination, this response is inadequate as rice is the

world's most important staple food, " Jeremy Tager at Greenpeace

International said in a statement.

 

EU UNHAPPY WITH DELAY

 

U.S. authorities insist that the GMO strain poses no risk to public

health or the environment. But the Commission, which says it needs much

more data about the case, was not so sure.

 

" We are still missing substantial amounts of information, " a senior

Commission official said. " For the moment, we do not share the view of

the

U.S. that there is no risk. "

 

The EU executive says it still has no idea about possible volumes of LL

Rice 601 that may have entered Europe, nor the countries that may have

received cargoes with the strain.

 

They are also unhappy about U.S. information policy that caused a near

3-week delay in telling Brussels that traces of the unauthorised GMO

were found in the commercial rice.

 

On July 31, U.S. agriculture and food safety authorities were notified

that testing by Bayer CropScience, a Bayer unit, showed LL Rice 601 in

rice bins in Arkansas and Missouri: the first time that unmarketed

biotech rice had been found in rice used in the U.S. commercial market.

 

Japan, for which the United States is the largest rice exporter, banned

imports of U.S. long grain rice on Aug. 19.

 

For LL Rice 601, the validation test was now available and would be

distributed in Europe in a few days, officials said.

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2.EU restrictions on illegal US rice imports inadequate

Greenpeace International, Press Release

 

Brussels, International 23 August 2006 - Greenpeace International

criticized the announcement by the European Commission (EC) today as a

minimal response to a serious contamination problem.

 

The EC stated that it would only impose testing and certification

requirements on imports of long grain rice from the United States

which does

not address contamination from genetically engineered (GE) rice that

may already be in food in the EU. The EC also relies on testing and

information provided by Bayer, makes no commitment to its own

assessment of

the extent of the contamination problem and also imposes no penalties

and costs against Bayer.

 

The EC made this move after Commercial rice in the United States was

found contaminated with genetically engineered (GE) Liberty Link (LL)

rice 601, produced by agro-chemical giant Bayer and never intended for

commercial release. Imports were, as a result, immediately banned in

Japan. (1)

 

" While the Commission should be congratulated for a quick response to

this genetic contamination, this response is inadequate as rice is the

world's most important staple food and is contained in many food

products currently on EU shelves, " said Jeremy Tager, Greenpeace

International

GE campaigner. " It is time to move beyond case-by-case procedures as

the GE industry has shown time and time again that it is unwilling or

unable to prevent GE contamination. "

 

Greenpeace International calls on the EC to stop reacting to

contamination 'accidents' and start preventing them instead. The EC

should

identify countries and products that are at high risk of

contaminating our food supply with illegal or dangerous GE organisms

and implement screening, preventative testing and, where there is no

demonstrated capacity to prevent contamination, total bans.

 

Greenpeace International calls on other major importing regions such as

the Americas, Africa and the Middle East to take similar steps

immediately until the US can guarantee that their rice supply - and

other foods

- are no longer contaminated.

 

" A message needs to be sent to the US and to agro-chemical giant Bayer

that genetic contamination and 'accidents' with our food are not

acceptable, and ultimately they must be held liable for cleaning it

up. "

 

Greenpeace campaigns for GE-free crop and food production grounded on

the principles of sustainability, protection of biodiversity and

providing all people to have access to safe and nutritious food.

Genetic engineering is an unnecessary and unwanted technology that

contaminates the environment, threatens biodiversity and poses

unacceptable risks

to health.

 

For more information and interviews

Jeremy Tager, Greenpeace International GE campaigner mob +31 (0) 6 4622

1185 office +31 (0) 20 718 2177

Suzette Jackson, Greenpeace International communications +31 (0) 6 4619

7324

 

Notes to editors

(1)http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=44088 & #9001;=fra & Ne\

wsRubrique=2

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3.EC slammed for " complacency and connivance " over GM rice fiasco

GM Free Cymru

Press Briefing 22 August 2006

 

The European Commission has been slammed for its feeble and belated

response to the latest fiasco involving the GM contamination of essential

food supplies by an unauthorised and untested variety of rice.

 

More GM Lies

 

On 31st July Bayer CropScience informed USDA that a rice merchandiser

had found traces of an unauthorised variety called LL601 in his rice

silos in the states of Arkansas and Missouri (1). After eighteen days of

private discussions the FDA and APHIS put out a joint " reassurance

statement " , designed to imply that the contamination was of very limited

extent, that it was only present in " trace amounts " , and that other LL

rice varieties have been approved as safe (2). They also declared that

the contaminated rice would not be destroyed, but simply stored for the

time being. Then, to cap it all, they said that they intend to cooperate

with Bayer in the deregulation (ie approval) of LL601 as speedily as

possible. That would, in true American fashion, make everything

perfectly all right again, as well as reducing or even eliminating any

liability which Bayer might otherwise have to face relating to health,

environmental or financial damage.

 

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johans concluded that there were " no

human health, food safety, or environmental concerns associated with this

GE rice. " However, he also admitted that he did not know how much rice

was contaminated, which rice products were involved, or where the

contaminated rice was found (3). Other people seem to know a great deal

more than he does (4), and perhaps they should tell him. In South Korea

the Ministry of Agriculture and USDA both initially lied to the media,

claiming that no LL601 rice had been included in long-grain rice

shipments from the US to South Korea in 2005, and that " all rice

imports from

the U.S. are screened by the USDA-run Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration before they are shipped abroad " (5). In

reality, shipments are not all GM-tested, and in any case there is no

testing

protocol for unauthorised varieties like LL601 since there are no

reference samples available. Contamination from scores of other

unauthorised, experimental or failed GM varieties could also be

present in

substantial quantities -- completely unidentified and with unknown health

impacts (6).

 

LL601 -- what is it?

 

In spite of the pretence from the authorities in the United States and

the EU that LL601 is a mysterious variety that can be assumed to be

acceptable until somebody proves otherwise, we actually know quite a lot

about it. The variety is a " Liberty Link " variety, genetically altered

to survive application of the powerful herbicide glufosinate ammonium,

manufactured as Liberty by Bayer. It was field-tested under permits

granted by the USDA from 1998 to 2001. Bayer then reportedly stopped

development of LL601 for unknown reasons five years ago. Speaking for GM

Free Cymru, Dr Brian John said: " It was a failed variety, and we can

make an intelligent guess that it failed because it was non-uniform and

unstable. Another failed " Liberty Link " variety was Chardon LL (T25),

a maize variety which was the focus of world attention in 2003 and 2004

before Bayer suddenly abandoned it. Many scientists thought that that

variety was dangerous to animals, as they still do with respect to

other LL varieties (7). Two " related " LL varieties developed by Bayer

(LLRICE06 and LLRICE62) appear to have undergone no animal feeding

studies

designed to investigate physiological / health effects (8). In spite

of the assurances of the UK Competent Authority, there are no grounds

for claiming that LL rice is safe for consumption either by farm animals

or humans, although the varieties do have approvals in the United

States (9). "

 

The EC -- fast asleep as usual

 

Since the US Secretary of Agriculture was unable to give assurances to

Japan and South Korea that the contaminated rice had not found its way

into the long-grain rice export market both countries have now

apparently banned all imports of US long-grained rice. In Japan,

companies

have been instructed by the Government not to process or sell any U.S.

long-grain rice they may already have imported in recent months. That

sounds like decisive action, demonstrating a commendable commitment to

the

Precautionary Principle.

 

In Europe, in contrast, the EC and the national authorities appear

determined to take no action against the US or Bayer CropScience if they

can possibly avoid it. More than three weeks have now elapsed since the

contamination incident. During that time, contaminated rice shipments

will almost certainly have come into European ports, as they have

probably done throughout the last five years. The EC was notified of the

incident on 18 August. After a relaxing weekend, on 22 August, the EC

said that it had contacted Bayer and the U.S. authorities for more

information about the unauthorized rice variety, with a view to

establishing

whether it might have found its way into any shipments destined for

European markets. There was no great sign of urgency. " We have to do

what

we can to make sure the rice doesn't come onto our market, " said

spokeswoman Antonia Mochan. She did not specify how customs officials

would

detect contaminated rice imports, but it is reasonable to assume that

the Commission's Joint Research laboratory is trying to define accurate

detection methods -- and to obtain valid reference samples -- with the

dubious assistance of U.S. officials and Bayer representatives (10).

 

Bt10 all over again

 

GM Free Cymru is furious that no lessons appear to have been learned

from the Bt10 incident which made world headlines last year (11). On

that occasion Syngenta, the US authorities and the EC were all

involved in

lies, deception and media manipulation on a truly sickening scale.

They misled the public and the media as to the real scale of the

incident,

sought to bury away information that should have been in the public

domain, and consistently connived to underplay the significance of the

regulatory breakdown which had allowed the export of maize crops

contaminated with Bt10 to spread far and wide across the globe. The US

regulators did impose a pathetically small fine on Syngenta, but the EC

effectively did nothing other than indicating a slight irritation and

issuing

a few plaintive requests for more information. Syngenta responded by

treating the EC with contempt (12). The " official " testing method

designed by Syngenta and its chosen laboratory, GeneScan, was probably

designed to ensure false negatives. The company has still not provided

adequate Bt10 reference material to the JRC after the passage of 18

months

or more, and the characteristics of Bt10 have still not been adequately

described for independent scientists although there are no grounds for

commercial confidentiality. In Britain there was so much buck-passing

between DEFRA, FSA and the regulatory authorities (ACRE and ACNFP) that

members of the public could not work out what had happened to it. The

level of inactivity was so serious that GM Free Cymru made a formal

complaint about the negligence of the FSA to the Health Secretary

Patricia

Hewitt (13). The Bt10 episode was characterised by corruption,

fraudulent science and an abject refusal by the EC to take any

effective action

against Syngenta in spite of the millions of euros which the incident

cost the taxpayer.

 

Speaking for GM Free Cymru, Brian John says: " What lessons has the EC

learned from the Bt10 fiasco? Probably none at all -- but we hope we

will be pleasantly surprised. At the very least, we want the Commission

to immediately ban all rice imports from the USA, to stop the

processing and marketing of all US rice stocks held by importers and

processors,

and to insist on the full disclosure of the genetic makeup of LL601 as

it was and is. Adequate reference materials must be provided by Bayer.

Almost certainly the GM rice variety will not have the same structure

today as it did in 2001. The EC must also obtain full information on

any safety testing done on the variety, and it must make that information

public. And above all else it must stop behaving in the venal and

despicable manner which we saw last year in the Bt10 fiasco. It is high

time that the EC started to get tough with the GM corporations whose

intention is initially to contaminate the whole of the world's food

supply

with GM components and then to take total control of the farming

industry. "

 

ENDS

 

Contact:

Brian John

Tel 01239-820470

 

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NOTES

 

(1) http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6911

 

(2) U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Statement on Report of

Bioengineered Rice in the Food Supply

CFSAN/Office of Food Additive Safety

August 18 2006

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/biorice.html

The USDA complacency should

come as no surprise. In a recent case in Hawaii, a US district judge

called USDA's regulatory heedlessness " arbitrary and capricious " and " an

unequivocal violation of a clear congressional mandate. " That echoes

similar conclusions reached by the USDA's own auditors last year. After

reviewing two years of records, the auditors concluded that the

agency's biotechnology regulators overlooked violations of their own

rules, failed to inspect sites and did not assure that genetically

engineered crops were destroyed after field trials. In some cases,

regulators

did not even know the locations of trials.

 

(3) Statement by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Regarding

Genetically Engineered Rice

USDA, August 18 2006

Release No. 0307.06

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome?contentidonly=true & contentid=2006/08/030\

7.xml

 

(4) The samples came from storage bins in Arkansas and Missouri. But

trace amounts of the contaminant have been found across the rice belt,

according to Bill Reed, spokesman for Riceland Foods in Stuttgart, Ark.

" This is a situation not limited to a state or a farmer or a producer

or a handler. It's a situation for Southern long-grain rice. "

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_4933927,00.h\

tml

 

(5) Lies in South Korea as part of the reassurance campaign:

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200608/kt2006082020574511910.htm

 

(6) http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6914

 

(7)

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory & c=Sto\

ryFT & cid=1079420034866

Beckett

is blamed as Bayer bins GM plan, March 30, 2004. Bayer Cropscience is

giving up attempts to commercialise GM maize - the only transgenic

plant to have approval for widespread cultivation. Bayer said that the

seed

variety Chardon LL has been left " economically non-viable " because of

conditions Margaret Beckett, environment secretary, imposed when she

gave it limited approval.

 

(8) http://www.agbios.com/dbase.php?action=Submit & evidx=63

 

(9) http://gmoinfo.jrc.it/csnifs/C-GB-03-M5-3_%20AssessmentReport.pdf

 

(10)

http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=44783 & #9001;=fra & NewsR\

ubrique=2

 

(11) Syngenta's Corporate Crimes -- including a summary of the Bt10

incident and the appalling negligence of the EC:

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6567

 

(12) Having failed to obtain assurances as to the validity of the

GeneScan test for the unauthorised presence of Bt10 in maize

shipments, GM

Free Cymru wrote this on 30th July 2006 to Dr Guy Van den Eede of the

Joint Research Laboratory:

" ....... as we suspected, the GeneScan test for Bt10 is inadequate

for testing for the presence of Bt10 contamination in the bulk of

European shipments of maize and maize products 2001-2004, and (through

the use

of very recent reference material) was probably carefully designed by

Syngenta and GeneScan to provide " false negatives " as a part of their

reassurance campaign. It also confirms that you have no grounds for

assuming that Bt10 was uniform and stable; we suspect that Syngenta knows

perfectly well that Bt10 was non-uniform and unstable, which may be why

the Bt10 lines were discontinued. There is a final and more worrying

comment which we wish to make. This sorry business shows that Syngenta

(and Monsanto and the other GM corporations) can play fast and loose

with the JRC and the EC through the partial and selective provision of

information, and can indulge in scientific fraud where it suits them,

with complete confidence that no action will be taken against them. This

is an appalling state of affairs, given that there have been massive

breaches of Directive 2001/18 by Syngenta which should have been

massively punished by the EC. "

 

(13) http://www.gmfreecymru.org/open_letters/Open_letter30Jan2006.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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