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Press Release More information about the Friends of the Earth Europe Biotechnology and GMOs campaign
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Press Release More information about the Friends of the Earth Europe Biotechnology and GMOs campaign
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Friends of the Earth demands ban on Chinese rice imports Brussels, Tuesday 5 September 2006 - Friends of the Earth Europe has called for an immediate ban on rice imports from China following the discovery by environmental groups that foods on sale in Europe are contaminated with an illegal genetically modified (GM) rice from China. This is the second illegal GM rice crisis to hit Europe in three weeks. Last month the European Commission introduced emergency measures to prevent US rice, illegally contaminated with a different GM strain, from entering the food chain [1]. Friends of the Earth Europe's GM Campaigner Adrian Bebb said: "These incidents must be prevented from happening again. Consumers in Europe deserve better than panic measures each time the latest crisis breaks. We need a radical overhaul of food testing in the EU to stop illegal and potentially unsafe genetically modified foods from entering the food chain." Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace tested foods in the UK, France and Germany and found rice products to be contaminated with the unauthorized GM rice [2]. The products were found in Asian specialty stores and were imported from China [3]. The illegal rice is an experimental variety genetically engineered to produce an insecticide. It is not approved for human consumption or commercial cultivation anywhere in the world. Scientific studies raise concerns about the risk to human health of eating the rice, particularly the potential to cause food allergies [4]. Both this latest incident and the contamination by Bayer's unauthorised GM rice in the US resulted from outdoor field trials of GM crops. Friends of the Earth Europe has now called for a global moratorium on field trials and a halt to the commercial development of GM rice. "This latest contamination is further proof that experimental genetically modified crops cannot be contained safely when grown in outdoor trials. Rice is one of the world's most important food crops and every effort should be made to protect it from contamination." Mr Bebb added. No GM rice is approved in Europe either for import or cultivation. However, Bayer has applied to import herbicide resistant rice into the EU. And since 1991, 35 applications were made for field trials of GM rice in Europe, mainly in Spain and Italy [5]. **** For more information contact: Clare Oxborrow, GM campaigner at Friends of the Earth (London): Rosemary Hall, Communications Officer at Friends of the Earth Europe: Notes to editors [1] http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2006/AB_23_Aug_US_rice.html [2] The foods testing were bought from Asian stores in Germany, France and the UK. Products testing positive were: [3] This latest contamination incident stemmed from field trials in China. An investigation by Greenpeace in 2005 found that research institutes and seed companies in China had been illegally selling unapproved GM rice seeds to farmers. Further testing indicated that the whole food chain had been contaminated, with the most recent case being the contaminated Heinz rice cereal products in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The Chinese government, in the wake of the situation, reportedly punished seed companies and destroyed illegal-grown GM rice. [4] The GM rice contains either the Cry1Ac protein, or a fusion Cry1Ab/Cry1Ac protein. [5] http://biotech.jrc.it/deliberate/dbplants.asp |