GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 37
Claire Robinson, editor

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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
OTHER CONTAMINATION STORIES
ENVIRONMENT
GM FAILURES
GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
CORPORATE CRIMES
GM APPLICATIONS AND EXPANSIONS
BIOFUELS
BIOPIRACY
PATENTS
NON-GM SUCCESSES
LOBBYWATCH
RESISTANCE
RESEARCH

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GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
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+ WORLD'S BIGGEST RICE PROCESSOR SUSPENDS ALL US IMPORTS
Spanish food group Ebro Puleva said it has suspended rice imports from the US in August over fears that shipments contained GM grain. "We are importing from other countries, except for China, which also uses transgenic seeds," an Ebro spokeswoman said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7085

+ JAPAN WIDENS TESTING FOR LLRICE601
Japan's ministry of agriculture, fisheries, and forestry (MAFF) will start testing all US short- and medium-grain rice imports and existing rice stocks for the presence of Bayer's illegal GM rice, LLRICE601. Japan has already banned the import of US long-grain rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7073
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7074

+ JAPAN REFUSES TO ACCEPT US CERTIFICATION
The increased testing in Japan for the presence of the illegal GM rice line LL601 involves the taking of samples from cargoes before they are allowed to leave the US, flying those samples to Japan, and testing the samples in Japanese laboratories. Only then, once they have confirmed a cargo to be GM-free, will they allow a ship to cross the Pacific. Dr Brian John comments, "The Japanese authorities have clearly decided that the American certificates declaring rice cargoes to be 'GM free' are not worth the paper they are written on."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7083

+ "GM-FREE" RICE NOT GM-FREE - EU BOOSTS CHECKS
The European Union said it would reinforce controls on US long grain rice imports, after Dutch officials found an unauthorized GM variety in shipments certified as non-GM.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7052
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7056

+ "GENE-ALTERED PROFIT KILLER" - WASHINGTON POST
Washington Post (EXCERPT): The disclosure last month that American long-grain rice has become widely contaminated with traces of an experimental, gene-altered rice, Bayer's LL601, has provoked an economic crisis for farmers and reignited a long-smoldering debate over the adequacy of US oversight of biotech food.

"The damage has been done and it is still being done," said Adam J. Levitt, a partner in the Chicago office of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLC, who led a class action lawsuit that won $110 million for farmers after gene-altered and unapproved StarLink corn appeared in food in 2000. "They've really in a very substantial way poisoned the well."

Even if Bayer succeeds in deregulating LL601, farmers will still face international rejection - a potentially major hit, since most rice profits are from overseas sales.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7051

+ GM'S ECONOMIC NIGHTMARE
The painful economic impact of the illegal GM rice crisis - described some as "a catastrophe" - is only the latest instance of major economic damage being inflicted by the GM industry.

Thanks to GM, American farmers have already suffered the loss of their corn export market to the EU while US soybean exports to the EU, historically America's most lucrative overseas market, have also now "dropped to almost economically insignificant levels".

The Wall Street Journal reports that the latest GM contamination scandal is not just hitting farmers. It's also proving a major headache for the food industry: "Companies are struggling to find reliable suppliers and to avoid legal suits by testing their product lines." On top of that, "food importers may face costly legal challenges..."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7035

+ FOURTH LAWSUIT FILED OVER GM RICE
A fourth lawsuit has been filed by farmers against Bayer CropScience, accusing the company of negligence after its unapproved GM rice was found in the US food supply. The lawsuits seek damages for falling market prices and to offset the increased cost of testing rice crops and ensuring that fields are free of LL601.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6973
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7058

+ USDA TO RUBBER-STAMP CONTAMINATION OF FOOD WITH ILLEGAL GM RICE
The US Dept of Agriculture (USDA) has initiated fast-track market approval of Bayer's illegal GM rice variety. If USDA grants approval, that would free Bayer from liability. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7006
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7018

+ US SUPPLY CHAIN "SEVERELY DISRUPTED"
A statement by the major UK rice importer Tilda Rice says, "The US supply chain to Europe is now severely disrupted."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7008