1.FSA ABOUT FACE: Stores told to remove GM rice from shelves
2.Germany Says Found Illegal GMO Rice from US, China
3.Food Propaganda Prevails In the Land of Corporate Rule
4.Japan's rice testing stuns industry
5.EU to require mandatory tests of U.S. rice imports
6.European Union Seeks Joint Testing With U.S. to Prevent Illegal GM Rice Imports
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1.Stores told to remove GM rice from shelves
Press Association
The Guardian, October 6, 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,,1889503,00.html
The government's food watchdog has changed its advice to retailers about genetically modified rice.
Stores must remove any rice known to contain GM strains from their shelves, the Food Standards Agency said.
The move follows ongoing concerns over the presence of GM strains in batches of long-grain rice from the US.
Selling products known to be contaminated with GM material is illegal in the UK, but the FSA previously told businesses that actively tracking down and removing contaminated rice products was unnecessary because they didn't pose an "imminent" health risk.
The watchdog's updated advice follows the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) assessment of safety implications of GM material in rice.
EFSA experts said rice containing traces of GM material was "not likely" to pose an imminent safety concern, but they found insufficient information to complete a full risk assessment of the issue.
The FSA's advice to consumers is unchanged. Anyone who has US long-grain rice at home can continue to eat it.
An FSA spokesman said today: "We are doing this because there is new information."
The environmental group Friends of the Earth complained that the stepped-up advice had come too late.
The group's GM campaigner, Clare Oxborrow, said: "The FSA should have issued this advice right from the start, instead of playing down the seriousness of the issue.
"The agency is still refusing to carry out any testing of rice on shelves and still failing to require retailers to carry out such testing themselves."
The US government confirmed in August that a genetically modified strain of long-grain rice was found in samples.
In response, the EU introduced emergency measures to stop contaminated rice entering the food chain.
Friends of the Earth researchers claim they have found GM strains in packets of rice and noodles on sale in a number of UK stores.
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2.Germany Says Found Illegal GMO Rice from US, China
Planet Ark - via http://www.ellinghuysen.com/
GERMANY: October 5, 2006
BERLIN - German consumer protection authorities said on Wednesday that they detected the presence of banned genetically modified (GMO) rice from the United States and China in various food products.
The German tests, carried out by ministry for environment and consumer protection in the state of Hesse in central Germany, revealed that 11 samples from eight different food products carried trace amounts of LL Rice 601 from the United States.
Five samples from three different products showed the unauthorised Chinese Rice BT 63.
No GMO rice is allowed to be grown, sold or marketed in the European Union's 25 countries, where consumers have a reputation for mistrust of GMO foods.
GMO food manufacturers, however, insist that their products are safe.
In August, the EU tightened requirements on US imports to prove the absence of LL Rice 601, developed by Germany's Bayer AG.
The EU decision followed the discovery by US authorities of trace amounts of GMO rice in long-grain samples targeted for commercial use.
Despite some lobbying in favour of GMO, EU member states have for many years been unable to secure the majority needed to overturn the present ban on GMO foods and crops.
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3.Food Propaganda Prevails In the Land of Corporate Rule
by Pamela Drew October 5, 2006 http://www.opednews.com/articles/not_sh_pamela_d_061005_propaganda_prevails_.htm
Ripped From The Headlines
This week's food news in America was, "Shoppers shun spinach as E. coli cases top 100 and it was splashed in bold headlines and led the television news reports. For the rest of the world, and watchers of genetically engineered crops, a far more dire food crisis has been the feature story for weeks. A genetically engineered variety of toxic Bt rice, never approved for human consumption and grown in a small test batch in 1999 had been found to have contaminated vast amounts of the American rice crop.The Bayer LL601 rice is a Bt variety that produces a pesticidal protein. That means when the bugs eat it they die; no one knows what it might do to humans because no tests have been done to determine any level of safety for LL601. It was assumed when Bayer abandoned the trials in 1999 that no one would ever have to. Unfortunately the greatest fears of unregulated genetically engineered field crops were realized when this abandoned variety turned up as a contaminant in worldwide exports.
Show Me The Money
The rice contamination was not totally absent from American news. In this land that worships corporate profits, the reports led with a business spin noting the $1 billion dollar market. Smaller news noted millions in losses faced by American farmers and their efforts filing lawsuits against Bayer.
Those feeling the impact impact, rippling through the South Eastern States, even noted the cost of the Star Link corn contamination, that years earlier, ended with tainted corn in consumer products. No one noted that it forced rare public discussion of the otherwise secret ingredients in American foods.
Ever the dutiful servant of the corporate customer, USDA Secretary leapt forward with assurances that this posed no threat. It doesn't matter that the stuff is banned worldwide and has never been subjected to safety testing. Secretary Johannas confidently announced, and US news quoted the following, "Based on "available scientific data" provided by Bayer, the USDA and the FDA have concluded "that there are no human-health, food-safety or environmental concerns associated with this G.E. rice." It is nice to know he has blind faith in safety when genetic scientists are alarmed. It must be the water in Washington.
Consumer Protection and Free Speech
On Sunday, September 18, in media outside America, worldwide headlines carried news of the tainted rice stating simply, GM Cover Up and similar condemnations . In Britain, where strict controls are in place and consumers are provided ingredient labels identifying genetically modified ingredients, the story was one of outrage. Not only had the toxic tainted rice been shipped to the EU in opposition to the ban, American authorities had waited two months to tell the world. Meanwhile LL601 rice was finding its way to supermarket shelves in Europe and Japan. The overseas government demanded the rice shipments be recalled and a ban was put in place. In defense of the US, the Administration is casual with laws and it's nothing they won't try to feed to Americans.
America didn't even know there was a problem until Bayer brought it to their attention. Most people would assume that the regulatory agency would provide oversight but don't look, don't find has been the preferred American method.
Actually, Bayer discovered the problem in January but waited nearly seven months to inform US regulators. Since the US policy is based on the manufacturers voluntarily informing the government about their products, this probably seemed acceptable to both Bayer and the USDA. They both understand that no one tells the American consumers.
Swallow This
There have been huge strides in the Federal Government's policy of keeping bad news under wraps. Last week we looked at new rules to remove whistleblower protections from EPA employees charged with enforcing the Clean Air and Water Act. If the EPA did not have some many years of testing for threats to human health and the environment maybe the Administration wouldn't be forced to silence them. Who really needs to hear about violations of toxic corporate contamination? America, this is insanity.
The President's Orwellian war continues to threaten our security. Beyond the contaminated air and water, the EPA is restrained from reporting, we have the uncontrolled growth and contamination of the genetically engineered crops. Despite the fact that the USDA approvals are generally rubber-stamps for these crops, there have been some varieties, never approved for commercial production or deemed fit for human consumption.
This was the case with the contaminating Bayer variety. The offending LL rice 601 was grown in a small test plot in 1999 and abandoned. Suddenly widespread contamination was discovered in 2006. While this highlights the lack of oversight and control it leaves the rice growers in a terrible predicament.
The result has been a ban on US rice exports to the EU, Japan and other nations around the world. The economic loss from the event has been huge now that the estimated 20,000 tons of rice, normally exported each month, now have now foreign buyers.In classic Bush Administration form the USDA's response has been to hurry to get a retroactive approval for the toxic LL 601 rice. The government view is that it's better to see us swallow it than have Bayer lose money.
If The Shoe Fits
There is no sense breaking the law when it can be changed so the lawbreaking activity is legal. President Bush has Senator Specter working to revise the domestic spying to remove the obstacles he faces with the pesky FISA court impeding his domestic spying program.
Torture bans in place under the Geneva conventions are up for grabs as he moves to avoid having the detainees who have been interrogated in secret prisons unable to charge their questioners with war crimes. What's the big deal with a few words moved around in the laws? This preferred approach to problem solving is what has been done again.
Bayer and the USDA quickly began the process to retroactively approve the toxic rice. By feeding the shunned LL601 to ignorant American consumers, the financial losses can be dramatically reduced; and what you don't know won't hurt you. The American media has dutifully given the ecoli spinach enough coverage that people get the feeling that someone is looking out for consumers. The spinach crop is nothing compared to rice?
The Best Laid Plans
By revising the rules and selling the LL601 toxic rice to the American public and Bayer's Crop division does not have to eat the loss. The USDA approval will save Bayer millions in claims from the US farmers who plan to sue. This is what Homeland Security is all about. Do business with the Administration and count on them for economic security. The risks are greater than just this one crop. This year, 181 acres in eight states were planted with crops that produce pharmaceuticals or industrial chemicals, according to Rachel Iadicicco, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service." What other cross contaminations and combinations of unexpected foods could be out there? The financial impact is mind-boggling. News like this is a threat.
Homeland Security
Listen to the President talk about security threats and protections. Ask yourself, what it is that we are trying to protect? This is an outrage.
There is not one reason in the world to prevent the EPA scientists from reporting threats to our air and water. There is not one reason in the world to expect Americans to eat the results of a toxic food experiment gone awry.
There is no tribute to our heroes of 9/11 who are sick from false claims of safe conditions at Ground Zero and no honor in seeing them sick and without health care.
Unfortunately, the Administration has taken the wrong course. We all knew on September 11 how deeply we loved our freedom and how angry we were to have that attacked. Now it is time to fight to get it back. What follows is a summary of the contamination by the center for Food Safety and links to the announcements and contacts at the USDA. Call, write, contact your members of Congress and tell them it is not acceptable to feed Americans a toxic mistake to avoid a corporate loss. Tell them that it is not okay to be forced to buy or consume products from corporations you don't want. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. They work for you or they ought to.
Take a stand, tell a friend, do one thing to demand that our public servants work in the public interest. The hundreds of thousands of public employees who are trying to serve and protect will appreciate the support and by raising your voice you will help to raise us all from the corporate menace that threatens our security. The threat is on the table. One by one, day-by-day we will create the change to save the world. That's more than enough for one day.
USDA to Rubber-Stamp Contamination of Food with Illegal, Genetically Engineered Rice Banned in Japan and Europe
U.S. Dismantles Regulation of Genetically Engineered Crops to Serve Interests of Biotechnology Industry
Press Release - Center for Food Safety FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today initiated fast-track market approval of an illegal, genetically-engineered (GE) rice variety that has contaminated long-grain rice throughout the South, throwing rice markets into turmoil and potentially causing harm to consumers and the environment.
Bayer CropScience developed the rice, known as LL601. Bayer field-tested LL601 from 1998-2001, but for unknown reasons never applied to USDA for market approval.Though LL601 is illegally present in rice supplies, and has not undergone meaningful reviews for potential health or environmental impacts, U.S. authorities have failed to recall LL601-contaminated rice supplies or food products. In contrast, Japan has banned U.S. long-grain rice imports, and the European Union is testing all U.S. rice shipments and rejecting those that contain LL601.
Bayer is now asking USDA to grant retroactive market approval of the illegal rice, even though the company gave up plans to market LL601 in 2001 and it remains untested.
"Illegal, potentially hazardous rice in grain bins, on supermarket shelves, in cereal, beer, baby foods, and all rice products. It should be a no-brainer � recall this stuff to make sure no one eats it," said Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director of the Center for Food Safety. "Instead, USDA plans to rush through 'market approval' of a genetically engineered rice that Bayer itself decided was unfit for commerce. Why? To free Bayer from liability."
"Experimental, genetically engineered crops like LL601 are prohibited for a reason," said Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at Center for Food Safety.
"Exhaustive testing is required to determine whether or not mutagenic gene-splicing procedures create human health or environmental hazards, and no one has done that analysis on LL601 rice," he added.
LL601 is one of several 'LibertyLink' (LL) rice varieties that have been genetically engineered by Bayer to survive application of Bayer's proprietary Liberty herbicide. Liberty kills normal rice, but can be applied directly to LL varieties to kill surrounding weeds. This explains why Bayer had to obtain government approval to permit residues of the weed killer on rice grains of its two approved versions of LibertyLink rice.
"Contrary to what you hear from the biotech industry, genetically engineered crops like LibertyLink rice mean more chemicals in our food, not less," said Freese.
"USDA's bid to approve - rather than recall � an illegal, genetically engineered contaminant in the food supply is the clearest sign yet that U.S. authorities are intent upon dismantling federal regulation of GE crops in the interests of the biotechnology industry," said Mendelson.
LL601 was first detected in U.S. rice by an export customer of Arkansas-based Riceland Foods in January 2006. According to Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Richard Bell, LL601 has been detected in virtually all milled long-grain rice supplies that have been tested. USDA announced the contamination debacle seven months later, on August 18th, when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns professed ignorance as to how much rice was contaminated, which rice products were involved, or where the contaminated rice was found.
In 2001, Bayer purchased Aventis CropScience, the company responsible for multimillion dollar food recalls due to massive contamination of U.S corn supplies with genetically engineered StarLink corn. StarLink was unapproved for human consumption due to concerns it could cause food allergies.
Since 1996, the USDA has granted at least 48 permits authorizing Bayer or companies it has since acquired (Aventis, AgrEvo) to plant over 4,000 acres of experimental, genetically engineered (GE) rice. The extent to which pollen or grains from these field trials have contaminated commercial rice or related weedy species such as red rice is unknown. USDA policies do not provide for the testing of fields adjacent to field test sites to detect possible contamination with the experimental genetically engineered crop.
September 8, 2006
Contacts:
Joe Mendelson, 202-547-9359 x12
Bill Freese, 202-547-9359 x14
Release No. 0345.06
USDA SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON DEREGULATION OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED RICE
WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2006 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking public comment on a petition to deregulate a rice genetically engineered (GE) to be tolerant to herbicides marketed under the brand name LibertyLink.
In 1999, after thorough safety evaluations, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) deregulated two similar LibertyLink rice lines.
Under petition, APHIS would extend its deregulation from the original two lines to include the rice line known as LLRICE601.
On Aug. 18, USDA announced that trace amounts of this regulated GE rice were detected in samples taken from commercial long grain rice. A review of the scientific data by USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded, that there were no human health, food safety or environmental concerns associated with this GE rice.
The petition for deregulation, submitted by Bayer Crop Science, is in accordance with APHIS' regulations concerning the introduction of GE organisms and products. APHIS has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) for LLRICE601. The scientific evidence indicates there are no environmental, human health or food safety concerns associated with this GE rice.
Notice of this action is scheduled for publication in today's Federal Register. USDA is seeking comment on the petition and invites comments on the EA. Consideration will be given to comments received on or before Oct.
10. Send an original and three copies of comments to
Docket No. APHIS-2006-0140,
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700
River Road, Unit 118,
Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238. Comments may be submitted via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov/
Comments are posted on the regulations.gov web site and may also be viewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
Contact:
Rachel Iadicicco (301) 734-3255
Kristin Scuderi (202) 720-4623
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4.Japan's rice testing stuns industry
Bob Krauter
Capital Press California Editor
Capital press, 6 October 2006
http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616&ArticleID=27854&TM=78413.52
SACRAMENTO: "Duplicative and unnecessary" is how a California rice industry leader assesses the decision by Japan to test all U.S. rice for evidence of an unapproved genetically enhanced variety.
California Rice Commission President Tim Johnson reacted with surprise to the requirement from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that U.S.-origin short and medium grain rice and rice stocks will be tested for the presence of Bayer CropScience's LibertyLink 601 rice.
"The announcement by Japan is surprising and disappointing," Johnson said.
"California has conducted thorough testing of all foundation and basic seed supplies for rice varieties produced in our state and those results clearly demonstrate that this LibertyLink event is not present in any California-source rice varieties. The action taken by Japan is duplicative and unnecessary."
Testing began with a shipment of U.S. rice that arrived in Japan on Sept. 30. Japan's announcement of testing comes more than a month after the U.S.
Department of Agriculture announced that commercial samples of the 2005 long grain rice crop in Arkansas and Missouri tested positive for trace amounts of an herbicide tolerant protein, LLRICE601, developed by Bayer.
In response to the August discovery by USDA, Johnson said tests were conducted in late August at the California Rice Experiment Station on samples of all its foundation and basic seed supplied by the facility to California rice farmers. LLRICE601 was not present in the long, medium or short-grain foundation or basic seed supplied to California rice farmers.
USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have reviewed the available scientific data provided by Bayer CropScience, and have not found any human health, food safety or environmental concerns associated with the rice in question.
Discovery of the unapproved LibertyLink 601 protein prompted Japan to ban imports of U.S. long grain rice, and the European Union imposed specific import testing rules.
Japan is the top market for California medium and short-grain rice, taking more than half of the state's production, according to the Rice Commission.
California is the largest producer of short and medium-grain japonica rice in the U.S. These rice varieties comprise more than 95 percent of the state's annual crop production grown on 500,000 acres, mostly in the Sacramento Valley.
Bayer CropScience is the target of a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of U.S. rice growers who allege that the company's failure to keep the non-approved genetically modified rice out of the food chain has depressed U.S. rice prices and harmed international trade.
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5.EU to require mandatory tests of U.S. rice imports
KTIC 840 Rural Radio via http://www.ellinghuysen.com/
BRUSSELS, Oct 4, 2006 (Reuters) - The European Union will introduce mandatory tests of rice imports from the United States following the finding of an unauthorised GMO strain in recent weeks, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
"We have agreed to introduce mandatory testing for these imports," a Commission spokesman told a news conference.
In August, the Commission tightened rules governing imports of U.S.
long-grain rice to prove the absence of the LL Rice 601 strain, which it said was marketed by Germany's Bayer AG <BAYG.DE> and produced in the United States.
Its decision followed the discovery by U.S. authorities of trace amounts of the GMO rice, engineered to resist a herbicide, in long-grain samples that were targeted for commercial use.
kticam.com
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6.European Union Seeks Joint Testing With U.S. to Prevent Illegal GM Rice Imports
Canadian Business Online, October 4 2006 via http://www.ellinghuysen.com/
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union will try to set up joint tests and controls with the United States to prevent genetically modified American long grain rice from entering the 25-nation region, an official said Wednesday.
The European Commission will seek negotiations to get a quick deal with U.S agriculture authorities on setting up a joint testing operation to ensure only legally approved rice makes it to Europe, EU spokesman Philip Tod told reporters.
Unless there is such an agreement with Washington, the European Commission will push for mandatory sampling and testing by the EU's 25 states of all long rice imports to ensure they do not contain genetically altered strains, Tod said.
The commission would seek only a 15-day negotiating period with the U.S. "with the view to reaching an agreement on a common sampling and testing protocol to be used when carrying out the tests required to certify U.S. long grain rice," he said.
The EU action stems from fears that a banned genetically modified long grain rice strain, named Liberty Link Rice 601, which was accidentally imported from the United States, could have found its way into the food supply.
Controls were reinforced after Dutch officials found an unauthorized genetically modified variety in shipments that arrived in the port of Rotterdam in August. EU officials have confirmed that one shipment had been impounded in the Netherlands, another in Belgium.
Tests in Italy also found the illegal variety in imports there last month, and the EU has alerted officials in Britain, France and Germany that some of banned long-grain rice may have entered their nations.
If no agreement is reached with the United States, EU governments would go ahead without Washington to boost testing and certification procedures, Tod said.
Wary of public health and environmental concerns, the EU allows only genetically modified foodstuffs that have been evaluated and authorized to be placed on the EU market.
The LL 601 strain was developed by Aventis CropScience, which was taken over by Germany's Bayer AG in 2002 and renamed Bayer Crop Science. Bayer announced in July it had found the 601 strain in storage units in Arkansas and Missouri.
While the EU head office insists on a recall of the illegal imports, it has said the presence of LL 601 poses no immediate health risk to humans or animals based on a review of incomplete data provided by the U.S. government and the maker of the rice variety.
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