GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 38
Claire Robinson, editor

***TAKE ACTION: STOP GM WINE!***
Hit the link! It only takes a minute.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=87&page=1

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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
OTHER CONTAMINATION STORIES
WTO
REGULATION
RESISTANCE
RESEARCH
GM FAILURES
GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
CORPORATE CRIMES
GM APPLICATIONS / EXPANSIONS
ENVIRONMENT
PATENTS
NON-GM SUCCESSES
LOBBYWATCH
BIOFUELS / CLIMATE CHANGE
FAST FOOD

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GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
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+ EU TO TEST ALL US RICE IMPORTS
European Union nations have voted to test all US long-grain rice imports to make sure they don't contain GM varieties that haven't been approved by the EU. All consignments of US long-grain rice will be sampled and tested at EU entry ports before they can be distributed and sold, the European Commission said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7140

+ BIOTECH INSTILS FEAR AND LOATHING IN CALIFORNIA RICE BELT
That was the title of an Associated Press piece about the economic impact on California's farmers of "a biotechnology blunder so disastrous that it prompted the rice industry's biggest export customer - Japan - to prohibit some varieties and threaten to ban all US imports. The European Union is making similar threats because genetically engineered rice continues to turn up on grocery shelves in Europe."

Here are some quotes from the article:
"It has given everybody a new perspective on this technology and it's not positive." - Grant Lundberg, chief executive of Richvale-based Lundberg Family Farms, one of the state's biggest rice growers

"It's pretty much economic suicide to let genetic engineered rice creep into California and pose a contamination threat." - John Hasbrook of SunWest Foods Inc., California's largest rice miller

"If that happens, the California industry will evaporate." - Fourth-generation farmer Greg Massa
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7124

+ USDA SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON DEREGULATION OF ILLEGAL GM RICE
The US Dept of Agriculture is seeking public comment on a petition to "deregulate" (ie approve) GM rice variety - LL601 - at the centre of the current contamination scandal.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7106

+ CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY COMMENTS ON "DEREGULATION"
Useful critique of the current attempt to approve ("deregulate") LL601 in the US:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7119

+ RUSSIA: U.S. RICE IMPORTS SUSPENDED
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7098

+ GERMANY FOUND ILLEGAL GM RICE FROM U.S., CHINA
German consumer protection authorities have said that they detected the presence of banned GM rice from the US and China in various food products.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7106

+ UK: STORES TOLD TO REMOVE GM RICE FROM SHELVES
The British government's food watchdog has changed its advice to retailers about GM rice. Stores must remove any rice known to contain GM strains from their shelves, the Food Standards Agency said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7106

+ GM RICE LEGAL CHALLENGE ISSUED AGAINST FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY
Friends of the Earth has filed a legal challenge against the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) over its failure to prevent consumers being exposed to illegal GM rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7147

+ THAIS REAP WINDFALL FROM GM RICE BAN
Thailand has reaped a windfall as orders for non-GM rice have kept rising over the past several months. "We've got more orders from Europe to replace those which would otherwise have gone to the US," said Wanlop Pitchyapongsa of Capital Rice, a major exporter.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7134

+ PROTECT RICE EXPORTS FROM GM CONTAMINATION: INDUSTRY
Leading Indian commodity exporters have urged the Indian government to take lessons from the big losses being suffered by the US rice industry and US farmers on account of GM contamination. They have said that policy measures should be put in place to see that GM rice is not developed in India so as not to imperil Indian exports.

RS Seshadri of Tilda Riceland said, "India exports good quantity of long grain basmati and non-basmati rice to Europe, West Asia and Japan at premium prices. Consumers in these regions do not accept GM rice. The US and Chinese exports of rice have taken a heavy beating as their rice is contaminated with GM grains."

R S Seshadri, a member of the All-India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) which represents exporters like Satnam Overseas, Sunstar, and Kohinoor, said, "Indian rice is GM-free and we want to keep it that way."

Amira Foods India's managing director Karan Chanana echoed similar sentiments. "GM basmati could spell the death knell for the industry... We are not prepared for its consequences. Hence India should not allo