www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

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, September 2006.

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.
+++

Bayer AG could face a series of class action lawsuits over the 601
genetically-modified rice strain that has been found on store shelves in
Germany, Handelsblatt reported.

It said several US law firms have placed announcements on their websites
stating they have filed lawsuits on behalf of farmers who grew crops
containing the genetically-modified strain.

The newspaper wrote that US farmers could suffer because they will be unable
to export their crop to Europe because of a European Union ban on
genetically modified rice.

It said US farmers export about 20,000 tonnes of rice to the EU annually.

A Bayer spokeswoman contacted by the newspaper said the company was aware of
the possible legal action, but did not provide any details regarding the
possible financial impact of the proposed lawsuits.

Liberty Link Rice 601 was developed by Aventis CropScience, which was taken
over by Bayer in 2002 and renamed Bayer Crop Science.

Field trials on the rice, which had a protein added to help make it
resistant to the Liberty herbicide, were stopped in 2001. Though the seeds
were never sold, traces of the modified rice have shown up in crops.

Bayer announced in July it had found the 601 strain in storage units in
Arkansas and Missouri.

www.checkbiotech.org

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