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News Messages |
| 29 September 2006 | | Germany: Unapproved GM rice from China found | In tests carried out on individual foodstuffs, a genetically modified rice strain from China has been detected by food inspection authorities in Lower Saxony, Hesse and Hamburg. The rice was found primarily in rice noodles.
Similar to many types of GM maize and GM cotton, the rice Bt63 has an enhanced resistance to harmful insects. Field trials of this rice have been conducted in China since 2001, and large-scale trials were performed in the province of Hubei in 2002 and 2003.
Despite several announcements of intention, Chinese authorities have yet to approve Bt63 rice for cultivation. However, during the field trials, farmers apparently reserved supplies of Bt63 seeds and sowed these in the following years: due to the properties of Bt63, significantly smaller quantities of insecticides may be used in its cultivation.
Since Bt63 rice is not approved in the EU, even ‘minimal traces’, such as found in the rice products, are illegal: the affected products have been removed from the shelves. Based on plant samples from China, a viable detection procedure has been recently developed in Germany.
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| 28 September 2006 | | ISAAA: GM cultivation to double worldwide by 2015 | The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, ISAAA, an agency primarily active in developing countries, has published a prognosis of doubled cultivation areas for genetically modified plants worldwide in the next ten years.
At the World Grains Summit in San Francisco, ISAAA director Clive James took stock of ten years of commercial GM cultivation, and presented a view of the next decade: the ISAAA reckons with an expansion of global cultivation areas from the current ninety million hectares to two hundred million.
The number of countries implementing agro-biotechnology is expected to double from twenty-one to forty, and director James predicts the greatest increase to occur in Asia, particularly in China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam. In South America, Brasil displays the potential to become the leading GM-producing country.
In contrast – and with the exception of South Africa – the African continent may be expected only to realise a “moderate expansion” in the cultivation of GM plants. According to ISAAA estimates, very little change is expected within the next ten years in “traditionally sceptical” Europe: the use of agro-biotechnology should increase only minimally or moderately.
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| 26 September 2006 | | Application for field trials with GM grapevine in South Africa | | Scientists at the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, have applied for the approval of field trials with genetically modified grapevines. The researchers have developed several lines with an increased resistance against fungal diseases.
The field trial aims at assessing the stability and activity of these transgenes under field conditions. The transgenic plants will be grafted onto one-year-old, non-transgenic rootstocks. In order to avoid dispersal of the transgene to the environment, the flowers of the transgenic plants will be bagged to contain the pollen, and the grapevines will be covered by a net to prevent seed dispersal. The trial site measures 930 square metres.
If approved, this will be the first field trial with genetically modified grapevines in South Africa. In Europe, GM wine has already been tested at sites in France, Germany and Italy. |
| 20 September 2006 | | Hungary's ban on GM maize persists | On Monday, the EU voted on an important question related to genetically modified crops. A committee of EU-25 biotech experts decided that Hungary will not have to lift its ban on GM maize MON 810.
Hungary is one of Europe's biggest grain producers. In January 2005, it was the first country in eastern Europe to prohibit the genetically modified maize event MON 810, following similar bans on EU-approved GM crops in Austria, France, Germany, Greece and Luxembourg during the years 1995 to 2000.
After the end of the EU moratorium on the approval of GM plants, the European Commission began to fight such bans in 2005. The EU environmental ministers, however, have rejected all proposals to lift the prohibitions and, since this stance has not changed significantly, diplomats already expected that the Commission's proposal would not find a qualified majority.
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| 19 September 2006 | | GM Rapeseed Ms8xRf3: Stalemate again in Council of Ministers | Once again, the EU member states were unable to agree upon a decision on the approval of a genetically modified product. This time, the subject for debate was the import and processing for food, feed and industrial uses of seeds from Ms8, from Rf3 and from Ms8xRf3, two GM varieties of rapeseed and their hybrid.
These GM varieties were developed by Bayer CropScience, possess the ability to withstand herbicides and, as males, are genetically conditioned to be sterile. In the Council of Ministers on 18 September, there was no qualified majority either for, or against, an approval.
Consequently, the decision has been turned over to the EU Commission, which will orient itself according to the scientific stance of the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA. The authority has confirmed that all prerequisites for approval have been fulfilled. In the EU, animal feed and refined oils made from rapeseed Ms8xRf3 have been allowed since 1999.
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| 18 September 2006 | | France loses ground as GM haven | | According to the French Association of Cereal Growers (AGPB), the French
biotechnology company Biogemma is considering waiving all further field
trials with genetically modified (GM) plants in France next year.
Biogemma accounts for this issue with the fact that, in the current year,
opponents of gene technology have vandalised twelve of eighteen sites with
GM field trials being conducted by the company.
Furthermore, according to the report, Biogemma has complained about a lack
of courage among French political representatives refusing openly to support
genetically modified organisms. The company is now said to be
investigating the possibility of performing field trials outside of France,
with particular interest in India and the USA. |
| 15 September 2006 | | EFSA statement on GM rice LLRICE601 | "The GMO Panel has evaluated the available scientific data on LLRICE601. According to the Statement of the Panel issued today there is insufficient data to provide a full risk assessment in accordance with EFSA’s GM guidance. On the basis of the available molecular and compositional data and the toxicological profile of a newly introduced protein, the Panel considers that the consumption of imported long grain rice containing trace levels of LLRICE601 is not likely to pose an imminent safety concern to humans or animals. The Panel Statement will now be forwarded to the European Commission and Member States who are responsible for risk management measures in relation to LLRICE601."
Read the full statement here: |
| 13 September 2006 | | USDA moves to deregulate controversial Bayer rice | The United States Department of Agriculture has initiated the process of deregulation for an unapproved, genetically-modified variety of long-grain rice, known as LL RICE (Liberty Link Rice) 601 and which was found in American supplies destined for the table.
The proposal for deregulation, submitted to the USDA by the manufacturer Bayer CropScience, was published in the Federal Register. The petition is in accordance with APHIS’ regulations for the introduction of GM organisms and products, and the USDA will be open for relevant comments from the public through 10 October.
On 18 August, the USDA announced having found traces of the GM strain in conventional, commercial rice harvests in 2005. Based on USDA research, and agreeing with both a draft environmental assessment from APHIS and data from the US Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture also affirmed the unlikeliness of a danger to human health or to the environment: LL RICE 601 is similar to two other Liberty Link GM varieties from Bayer which were declared safe, and deregulated, in 1999.
Due to bacterium-derived genes which they share, all three strains of rice are capable of withstanding the herbicide Liberty (known also as glufosinate). The USDA claims this similarity, together with information gathered in ‘numerous field trials’ between 1998 and 2001, to be the basis of the decision to apply for the extension of deregulation to all three varieties.
Upon deregulation, Bayer would be permitted to exploit its commercial possibilities, although no intention to do so has been made yet clear. However, rice farmers from six US states, claiming contamination of their crops with LL RICE 601, have initiated suits currently against Bayer in a U.S. District Court in Arkansas.
Still uncertain are also the potential effects of deregulation upon importers of US rice. Since the USDA announcement of local contamination with LL RICE 601, many have instituted import restrictions: Japan, for example, banned US rice completely. The European Union ordered testing of imports, to ensure that this rice remain outside its member states - however, since the contamination of US rice appears to have remained unnoticed for several months, the impossibility of a guarantee was officially admitted by the EU last week.
In Germany, according to the Baden-Wuerttemberg ministry of agriculture, LL RICE 601 has been detected in seven out of forty-six retail supplies tested: this rice, which may be sold neither in the USA nor in the EU, was confirmed by the ministry to have been immediately removed from the shelves.
The ministry also stated that, according to present knowledge, it could be assumed that the incident poses ‘no threat to health’, since only minimal quantities (less than 0.05 percent) of LL RICE 601 were found – a result which agrees with US findings of about 0.06 percent contamination in supplies.
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| 12 September 2006 | | Tightened import controls in Europe detect unauthorised GM rice | Only a month after the EU tightened requirements on US long-grain rice
imports, illegal GM rice has been detected in Rotterdam confirming the need
for strict controls. Traces of LL 601 were present in 20.000 tons of
US-imports, shipped to Rotterdam last week and destined for sale in Great Britain
and Germany. The contaminated cargo was confiscated. The genetically
modified rice strain Liberty Link Rice 601 (LL 601) is not authorized for
cultivation or sale in the 25 EU-countries.
Moreover, the EU commission stated that the European Federation of Rice Millers has tested 33 out of 162 rice samples positive for LL 601 rice,
imported from the USA. The relevant consignments have been kept from the
market. The food industry is alarmed by the recent findings and fears
re-calls of unauthorised Liberty Link products.
The origin of LL 601 in European imports remains unclear: LL 601 has been
developed by Bayer to resist herbicides in the USA but it has never been
cultivated or authorised for commercial use. It is widely speculated that
field studies by the Louisiana State University have led to cross-breeding
with other rice strains. Alternatively, the seeds could have been mixed
unintentionally by the producer. Bayer has now applied for authorisation of
LL 601 as food since US-authorities exclude any health risk. |
| 08 September 2006 | | EU commission demands strict controls for GM rice by European food importers | Alerted by environmentalists’ recent finding of unauthorised Chinese GM rice in European food imports, the European Commission warns operators to keep illegal food products off the market.
On Tuesday, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Europe reported evidence of genetically modified rice in rice sticks and rice noodles imported from China into Germany, France and the UK. Of 29 samples of rice products obtained from Asian specialty stores and restaurants, five samples contained traces of an unauthorised rice strain which might cause allergenic reactions in humans. According to Greenpeace, the insect-resistant Bt-rice is still undergoing field trials in China and is not approved for human consumption anywhere in the world.
The EU Commission has asked the environmentalists to hand over the contaminated rice samples for confirmation of the results in EU laboratories. At the same time, EU member states have been urged to intensify controls on genetically modified foods. Spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich reminds importers on their responsibilities: “The presence of traces of unauthorised GMOs in food in the EU is illegal and it is the responsibility of operators to ensure that they do not place on the market food which does not comply with EU law.”
The Chinese government is investigating the Greenpeace report but Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang rejected claims on Thursday: "China has not approved commercial growing of any genetically modified rice”. He states that the GMO rice on experimental fields was grown for scientific research only and has not been approved for commercial production. Green groups suspect that the Bt-strain may have been illegally sold to farmers by the scientists.
The latest discovery of GM rice in Chinese foods follows last month’s findings of another unauthorized GM rice in US imports. As a consequence, the EU has tightened import requirements for long-grain rice and now demands certification of the absence of the genetically modified strain.
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| 04 September 2006 | | Romania: Joining the EU troubles GM soy bean farmers | | On 01 January 2006, Romania will join the European Union. While the public broadly appreciates this step, soy bean farmers are afraid: Most of them cultivate herbicide-tolerant GM soy beans, which are not authorised for cultivation in the EU.
Consequently, in 2007 Romanian farmers will have to use conventional soy bean varieties. Since severe weed problems knocked down the Romanian soy bean production in the 1990s, farmers are afraid of a similar situation in the near future. Only the introduction of GM soy beans in 1999 ended the weed problems.
Now, Romanian farmers have visited colleagues in the USA. They hope to learn how to improve communication with the public on the topic of biotechnology, to result in broader support of their call for the quick approval of GM soy beans. A group of the largest Romanian soy bean growers is lobbying for provisional authority from the EU to grow the GM varieties. Although it is probably too late for cultivation in 2007, farmers are optimistic about obtaining provisional authority for 2008. |
| 04 September 2006 | | Test kit for LLRice 601 announced | On 01 September, the effectiveness of a 10-minute test kit for LLRice 601 (a GM product currently without approval) was confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture. Rice 601 was originally developed by the CropScience unit of the Bayer AG.
Strategic Diagnostics, Inc., had applied for the evaluation of this test kit by the GIPSA Rapid Test Performance Evaluation Program.
Upon trace findings in Arkansas and Missouri of the LLRice 601 trait in rice reserves, and due to European test requirements, US rice exports had been placed in danger. The Department of Agriculture responded by announcing the viability of the strip kit which, within ten minutes, identifies the particular LLRice 601 protein at, or above, a threshold of two percent.
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August 2006
