Washington, DC
March 5, 2007
"The U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is taking action to
prevent the planting and distribution of a long-grain rice seed
known as Clearfield CL131 because testing by a private company
has revealed the possible presence of trace levels of genetic
material not yet approved for commercialization.
"APHIS began issuing emergency action notifications (EANs)
yesterday, March 4, to inform distributors that this seed,
scheduled for planting this spring, must be held until APHIS can
verify and identify the presence of additional genetic material.
APHIS directed distributors to begin notifying producers
yesterday. Additional EANs are being issued to affected
producers as they are identified.
"APHIS is taking this action because the genetic material
detected in Clearfield CL131 seed might be regulated, in which
case it would not be approved for commercial use. The issuance
of EANs will keep any additional CL131 seed from being planted
until a determination can be made concerning the identity of
this genetic material and the appropriate risk assessment can be
conducted. USDA, through its own testing, is in the process of
confirming the results reported by BASF Corporation.
"This action is prompted by test results informally reported to
APHIS by Horizon Ag last Wednesday evening, with written results
being provided to APHIS by BASF Corporation and Horizon Ag on
Thursday. Clearfield is a registered trademark of BASF.
Clearfield CL131 was not developed as a genetically engineered
product. Horizon Ag is licensed by BASF Corporation to market
this seed. Both companies are fully cooperating with APHIS.
"This is not the first detection of genetically engineered
material in Clearfield CL131 rice seed. Last week, APHIS
announced that trace levels of a previously deregulated
genetically engineered trait had been identified in Clearfield
CL131.
"Because of the possibility that the genetic material in
question is regulated, APHIS is conducting an investigation to
determine the circumstances surrounding the release and whether
any violations of USDA regulations occurred."
RELATED RELEASE:
BASF Agricultural Products cooperates with
U.S. Ag Department to remove all Clearfield CL131 rice from the
marketplace |
|
