EU restricts US long grain rice imports

The European Commission decided on Wednesday (23 August) that imports of long grain rice from the US must be tested and found not to contain an unauthorized genetically modified strain (LL Rice 601) before it can be exported to the bloc.

The EU's move came after Japan suspended all imports of US long-grain rice when it emerged last week that small amounts of an unapproved type of genetically engineered rice had found its way into the feed and food chain in the US.

"We have strict legislation in place in the EU to ensure that any GM product put on the European market has undergone a thorough authorisation procedure based on scientific assessment", said EU health and consumer commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

"There is no flexibility for unauthorised GMOs - these cannot enter the EU food and feed chain under any circumstances".

The measures will enter into effect immediately, and are expected to be reviewed after six months, the commission said. They will be communicated to member states on Friday, when the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health discusses the matter.

EU member states authorities are responsible for controlling imports at their borders and should also carry out controls on products already on the market.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it was reviewing Brussels' demands.

"This particular rice and the protein in it is not a threat to human health or plant health," USDA spokesman Jim Rogers underlined, according to media reports.

Bayer CropScience, one of the world's leading biotech companies, based in Germany, genetically engineered the rice in concern to be resistant to a specific weed killer known as glufosinate. But the new type of rice is not approved for consumption or cultivation anywhere in the world.

Last year, the EU imported 198,000 tonnes of long grain rice from the United States, worth €52 million.