from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

The GM rice contamination scandal continues to dominate the news this week. Thus far, American rice farmers and consumers are the ones who have paid the price while Bayer and its accomplice in the cover-up, the US government, have got off relatively unscathed. This may not continue, however, as three major lawsuits launched by farmers against Bayer are already in motion with more on the way.

Don't miss the report on the new book on GM by the former editor of the Weekly Watch, Andy Rees (NEW BOOK).

Claire
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
EUROPE
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
RESEARCH
TERMINATOR
CORPORATE CRIMES
LOBBYWATCH
NEW BOOK

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GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
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+ GM CONTAMINATION WIDESPREAD: BAYER KNEW IN MAY
More news has emerged on the contamination scandal involving an unapproved Bayer GM rice, LL601, that is contaminating US rice supply. An article in the New York Times shows that: ***Rice marketer Riceland Foods knew in January that there was contamination of rice destined for export and human consumption ***The contaminated rice appears to be widespread across Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas ***There appear to be many positive samples ***Bayer knew about this in May, but apprently did not inform USDA until July 31 ***And USDA did not go public until nearly 3 weeks later. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6927

+ U.S. KNOWINGLY SHIPPED BANNED FOOD FOR A YEAR - UK AFFECTED
Britons have unwittingly been eating banned GM rice imported from the US for months, if not years, food safety experts fear.

Imports of the rice were stopped by the European Commission (EC) on 24 August. But investigations in the US show that it has long been "widespread" in grain destined to be shipped overseas.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6936

+ USDA HIDES ANOTHER BIOTECH DISASTER - FOR SAKE OF MONEY
At a press conference, US secretary of agriculture Mike Johanns indicated that an economic motive was behind the government's delay in informing the public about the contamination, as the government anticipated foreign rice importers might reject the product. Johanns said the USDA spent the time preparing tests for rice importers to check the product for contamination. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6953

+ ILLEGAL GM RICE CONFIRMED IN NETHERLANDS
A shipment of LL601 GM rice from the United States arrived in the Netherlands on 26 August, the European Commission said. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6962

+ EU STILL WAITING FOR DETAILS ON ILLEGAL RICE
EU food safety authorities are still waiting for Washington to provide more details about the unauthorised biotech rice strain. "We still have no formal information about the extent of the contamination, origin or timeframe for when this happened," one EU official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But we have heard informally from the rice industry that their preliminary testing indicates that the contamination may be much more widespread than first thought," he said. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6957

+ "ALMOST ALL THE TESTS ARE POSITIVE"
Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Richard Bell comments on the results of tests for the illegal GM rice: "Almost all the tests are showing up positive... I'm not aware of any milled rice it hasn't shown up in." He added, "The people who will gain the most will be the testing laboratories and attorneys." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6951

+ TEST TO DETECT ILLEGAL BAYER RICE COULD COST $300 A TIME
USDA has now certified tests from Bayer CropScience to detect when an unapproved GM rice known as LL601 is present in commercial rice. Each test could cost as much as $300, but it is uncertain who will pay for the testing, US Agriculture Department says. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6935

+ ILLEGAL RICE IS PROBABLY IN CALIFORIAN RICE AS WELL
Since most of the development work on LL601 appears to have been done in California, it is highly likely that Californian medium grain rice is now contaminated with LL601 and with various other abandoned GM lines, says Dr Brian John of GM Free Cymru. Nobody knows how extensive this contamination is, because there is no testing.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6930

+ GM RICE SCARE SHOWS VULNERABILITY OF FOOD SUPPLY
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6930

+ EUROPE'S BABY FOOD PUT AT RISK BY INDUSTRY-U.S. GOVT COVER-UP
GM Free Cymru's Dr Brian John said the GM rice contamination was much more serious than the Bt10 incident which made the headlines last year. "American long-grain rice is a primary food consumed in a virtually unprocessed form by millions of consumers across the EU," said Dr John. "It is also widely used in baby food as a cereal, recommended for use early in the weaning process."

Dr John said the conta