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EU says food importers should do more to keep out GM products / Ban called for on Chinese rice (5/9/2006)

1.EU says food importers should do more to keep out genetically modified products
2.Ban called for on Chinese rice

"Consumers in Europe deserve better than panic measures each time the latest crisis breaks. We need a radical overhaul of food testing in the EU to stop illegal and potentially unsafe genetically modified foods from entering the food chain." (item 2)
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1.EU says food importers should do more to keep out genetically modified products
Sidney Morning Herald, September 5 2006
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/EU-says-food-importers-should-do-more-to-keep-out-geneticallymodified-products/2006/09/05/1157222128210.html

The European Commission said Tuesday food importers need to do more to keep imports of genetically modified products out of the 25-nation bloc.

The EU's executive office was responding to claims by two environmental groups that some rice imports from China contained illegal genetically modified elements.

Though the European Commission could not confirm the findings of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, spokesman Philip Tod said food "operators are clearly not doing enough" to keep the illegal products out.

Greenpeace said that illegal biotech rice had been found in food products in Britain, Germany and France. It said it was an experimental variety aimed at protecting the rice from pests but might cause allergic reactions in people.

Friends of the Earth demanded an immediate ban on Chinese rice imports.

"The European Commission must react quickly and ban imports from China until consumers can be guaranteed that foods containing rice are safe from contamination," said spokesman Adrian Bebb.

"Chinese foods already in shops should also be immediately tested and products recalled if necessary."

It was the second time environmental groups called for such a ban in a month. Two weeks ago, the EU imposed extra controls on U.S. imports after traces of a banned genetically modified rice variety were found in U.S. long-grain rice.

No GM rice varieties have been cleared for sale in Europe, and EU authorities said they are taking all possible measures to avoid it hitting store shelves.
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2.New Food Scandal: Illegal GM rice from China found across Europe
Friends of the Earth demands ban on Chinese rice imports
Friends of the Earth Europe
Press Release
For Immediate Release Tuesday 5 September 2006

Brussels, Tuesday 5 September 2006 - Friends of the Earth Europe has called for an immediate ban on rice imports from China following the discovery by environmental groups that foods on sale in Europe are contaminated with an illegal genetically modified (GM) rice from China.

This is the second illegal GM rice crisis to hit Europe in three weeks. Last month the European Commission introduced emergency measures to prevent US rice, illegally contaminated with a different GM strain, from entering the food chain [1].

Friends of the Earth Europe’s GM Campaigner Adrian Bebb said: "It is shocking that contamination with illegal genetically modified rice has occurred for the second time in a month. The European Commission must react quickly and ban imports from China until consumers can be guaranteed that foods containing rice are safe from contamination. Chinese foods already in shops should also be immediately tested and products recalled if necessary."

"These incidents must be prevented from happening again. Consumers in Europe deserve better than panic measures each time the latest crisis breaks. We need a radical overhaul of food testing in the EU to stop illegal and potentially unsafe genetically modified foods from entering the food chain."

Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace tested foods in the UK, France and Germany and found rice products to be contaminated with the unauthorized GM rice [2]. The products were found in Asian specialty stores and were imported from China [3]. The illegal rice is an experimental variety genetically engineered to produce an insecticide. It is not approved for human consumption or commercial cultivation anywhere in the world. Scientific studies raise concerns about the risk to human health of eating the rice, particularly the potential to cause food allergies [4].

Both this latest incident and the contamination by Bayer’s unauthorised GM rice in the US resulted from outdoor field trials of GM crops. Friends of the Earth Europe has now called for a global moratorium on field trials and a halt to the commercial development of GM rice.

"This latest contamination is further proof that experimental genetically modified crops cannot be contained safely when grown in outdoor trials. Rice is one of the world’s most important food crops and every effort should be made to protect it from contamination." Mr Bebb added.

No GM rice is approved in Europe either for import or cultivation. However, Bayer has applied to import herbicide resistant rice into the EU. And since 1991, 35 applications were made for field trials of GM rice in Europe, mainly in Spain and Italy [5].

For more information contact:
Adrian Bebb, GM campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe:
Tel +49 80 25 99 19 51, Mobile +49 1609 4901 163, Email
[email protected]
Clare Oxborrow, GM campaigner at Friends of the Earth (London):
Tel +44 207 566 1649, Mobile +44 771 2843211, Email
[email protected]
Rosemary Hall, Communications Officer at Friends of the Earth Europe: Tel +32 25 42 61 05, Mobile +32 485 930515, Email
[email protected]

Notes to editors

[1] http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2006/AB_23_Aug_US_rice.html

[2] The foods testing were bought from Asian stores in Germany, France and the UK. Products testing positive were: Cock Brand Rice Sticks (France) Swallow Sailing Rice Sticks (Germany) Brotherhood Rice Vermicelli (UK) Happiness Rice Vermicelli (UK) Gold Plum Rice Sticks (UK)

[3] This latest contamination incident stemmed from field trials in China. An investigation by Greenpeace in 2005 found that research institutes and seed companies in China had been illegally selling unapproved GM rice seeds to farmers. Further testing indicated that the whole food chain had been contaminated, with the most recent case being the contaminated Heinz rice cereal products in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The Chinese government, in the wake of the situation, reportedly punished seed companies and destroyed illegal-grown GM rice.

[4] The GM rice contains either the Cry1Ac protein, or a fusion Cry1Ab/Cry1Ac protein.

- A 1999 study partly sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency found evidence to suggest that the Bt protein Cry1Ac can elicit antibody responses consistent with allergic reactions in farm-workers and a series of studies published in 1999 and 2000 by a Cuban researcher Vasquez-Padron on Cry1Ac documented immunogenic responses to which indicate the potential for allergic reactions or other immune system responses www.humboldt.org.ni/transgenicos/docs/what_experts_says_human_effects.pdf

[5] http://biotech.jrc.it/deliberate/dbplants.asp

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