EU Adopts `Emergency Measures' to Bar Gene-Altered U.S. Rice
The European Union adopted ``emergency measures'' to protect against an unapproved, gene- modified rice made by Bayer CropScience AG, which was found in commercial U.S. rice supplies.
By Kevin Costelloe
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union adopted ``emergency measures'' to protect against an unapproved, gene- modified rice made by Bayer CropScience AG, which was found in commercial U.S. rice supplies.
Bayer detected trace amounts of the long-grain rice variety, known as LLRICE 601, in commercial U.S. samples. Bayer field-tested the modified rice from 1998 to 2001, and it tainted the 2005 crop.
The European Commission, the EU's regulatory branch, said today in an e-mailed statement that all imports of U.S. long- grain rice must be ``certified as free from the unauthorized'' variety. The commission said the rice will have to be tested by an ``accredited laboratory'' before it can enter the EU.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Costelloe in Brussels at kcostelloe@bloomberg.net
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