European Commission Finds Unauthorized Rice in Import Shipments
Commission also looking into reports from Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth that GM rice from China found its way into supermarkets.
Compiled by staff
Published: Sep 12, 2006
Bayer CropSciences LL601 biotech rice line found its way into European Union import shipments. Monday the European Commission report that of 162 samples, 33 tests positive for the rice event.
The European Federation of Rice Millers, which represents about 90% of all EU trade in rice, tested the samples with one of the validated testing methods.
Any consignments which tested positive have already been recalled or withheld from the market.
The EU requires imports of long-grain rice from the United States be certified as free from LL601 rice. According to the Commission, a shipment of 20,000 tonnes of U.S. rice delivered to Rotterdam, Denmark was detained on suspicion of LL601 contamination. Of the suspected barges which have been tested so far, three have shown up positive for the presence of LL601 in their consignments, while 20 others tested negative.
Further analytical testing is being carried out by the Dutch authorities, the Commission reports. The consignments which tested negative for the unauthorized GMO have now been allowed to proceed to their final destination, while those which tested positive continue to be detained in Rotterdam and will either be returned to the U.S. or destroyed.
Following reports by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth last week that they had found evidence of a strain of GM rice in products imported from China, the Commission requested that all relevant information and samples be submitted to authorities to confirm the findings and is still awaiting verification of these findings.
The Commission has also written to the Chinese authorities requesting further information, and asked industry and Member States to intensify their controls of rice products on the market.
A statement from Greenpeace indicated the rice was also found in parboiled long-grain rice sold in Aldi Nord, a major German supermarket chain. The Commission did not have a statement on this particular report.
Permalink: Click here
Tagged: bayer cropsciences
|