Washington, DC
August 28, 2006
The European Commission (EC) today
decided to require that U.S. long-grain rice imports be
certified as free from the unauthorized LL 601 rice variety
genetically engineered by Bayer CropSciences. This decision
comes in light of the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) announcement that the LL 601 strain has been found in
samples of commercial long-grain rice.
The Commission will submit its decision to the member state
experts for review within 10 days, and the Standing Committee on
the Food Chain and Animal Health will meet on Friday 25 August.
The regulation will most likely be revised after the member
states review it.
“As we await the final decision of the Standing Committee, it is
important to recognize that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has declared the long-grain rice variety in
question to be safe for human consumption,” USA Rice spokesman
David Coia said.
USA Rice will work with
USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative to provide comments to
the EU Mission in Washington for use in the multi-state review.
What About
Those Genetically Engineered Long-Grain Rice Grains
Found in Commercial Samples?
USA Rice Federation explains what it’s all about
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike
Johanns’ announcement Aug. 18 that minute amounts of
genetically engineered rice were discovered in the
2005 crop of southern U.S. long-grain rice came as a
surprise to an industry that had chosen to not grow
such rice prior to consumer market acceptance and
regulatory approval.
When Secretary Johanns made his announcement, the
USDA and Food and Drug Administration unequivocally
emphasized that the long-grain rice in question —
the regulated LL601 variety genetically engineered
by Bayer CropScience — is safe for human
consumption.
USDA and Bayer quickly explained that Bayer would
seek expedited approval for its LL601 product. The
expedited approval process, estimated to take 60
days, is related only to environmental effects.
LL601 had not been taken through USDA’s
environmental approval process because Bayer said it
had not intended to develop the strain. The Aug. 18
announcement, notwithstanding that the product is
safe, raised concerns in overseas markets.
On Aug. 25, just one week after the USDA
announcement, the European Union’s Standing
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health
endorsed the Aug. 23 recommendation by the European
Commission to accept only U.S. long-grain rice
tested “by an accredited laboratory using a
validated testing method.” Consignments without
proper certification are to be returned to the USA
or destroyed. The Standing Committee said that it
will reassess its ruling in six months.
It should be clearly understood by everyone that
LL601 is not only safe for human consumption, but
has been reported present in the southern U.S.
long-grain rice supply in trace amounts of only 0.06
of one percent — that is, six grains of LL601 for
every 10,000 grains of rice, far lower than the
tolerances for other genetically engineered crops
now admitted to the EU.
The principal issue for the EU is that the LL601
long-grain rice does not yet have EU regulatory
approval. However, the LL601 protein has already
been approved for use in other crops in some EU
countries, and in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Japan,
China, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and
Russia, according to Cindy Smith, deputy
administrator for biotechnology regulatory services
with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service.
The USA Rice Federation staff since Aug. 18 has been
working with its members and federal and industry
officials to get to the source of the problem and
resolve issues that are the natural result of such
an event. USA Rice Federation continues to ask Bayer
for answers, and USDA is conducting an official
investigation of what happened. USA Rice strongly
supports that effort.
Accurate testing to help gauge the full extent of
the LL601 presence and to facilitate the testing
requirement for overseas markets, both of great
importance to the industry, are now available. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection,
Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) late
Thursday, Aug. 24, announced the validation of two
tests to detect the LL 601 rice. “Both tests are
real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods —
one that detects 35SBAR DNA sequence found in LLRICE
and another that detects the DNA sequence specific
to the LLRICE 601 trait,” the GIPSA announcement
says.
Laboratories may now use the tests to
authoritatively determine the presence of LL601.
Estimates for the cost of the tests range from $200
to $500. Bayer CropScience has so far offered to pay
for testing of shipments destined only for
significant export markets. Five testing
laboratories are listed on the Bayer CropScience Web
site:
· Mid-West Seed Services, Inc., Brookings, SD
· Biogenetic Services Inc., Brookings, SD
· BioDiagnostics Inc., River Falls, WI
· SGS North America Inc., Memphis, TN
· Eurofins GeneScan Incorporated, Metairie, LA
The USA Rice Web site will post news and
developments related to Bayer’s LL601 rice presence.
Coverage is also available each day in USA Rice
Daily, the award-winning USA Rice electronic
newsletter available on a free subscription basis. |
USA Rice Federation is the
national advocate for all segments of the rice industry,
conducting activities to influence government programs,
developing and initiating programs to increase worldwide demand
for U.S. rice, and providing other services to increase
profitability for all industry segments. |
