EU orders imports of U.S. rice to be certified free of GM strain
The European Union's executive arm decided to take the action after Washington informed Brussels last week that an unauthorized strain of GM long-grain rice had been detected on the U.S. market.
"We have strict legislation in place in the EU to ensure that any GM product put on the European market has undergone a thorough authorization procedure based on scientific assessment," said EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.
"There is no flexibility for unauthorized GMOs -- these cannot enter the EU food and feed chain under any circumstances," he added. "The measures we have taken today will ensure that unauthorized GM rice is not inadvertently imported."
Last year, the EU imported 198,000 tons of long-grain rice from the Untied States, worth 52 million euros (67 million dollars), according to the commission.
Although the decision has to be submitted to food safety experts from member states for review, the measures enter into effect immediately and are expected to be reviewed after six months, the commission said.
Both U.S. authorities and Bayer CropScience, which produced the strain of rice and is the agro-industry arm of the German chemicals and drugs giant, have found that the GM rice represented no risk to humans or the environment.
However, environmental groups are outraged that the rice has ended up in the U.S. market and some have called for a full ban on imports of U.S. rice to the EU.
GM crops and products vary within the EU, they are tightly regulated largely as a result of public unease about the health and environmental impact of them.
In April 2005, the European Commission also ordered inspections of some imports of animal feed from the United States after discovering an unauthorized GM maize from the United States.
Currently no GM rice is authorized in the EU for food and feed use or for cultivation or import, according to the commission.
The European Food Safety Authority is currently examining an application for authorization for a strain of rice made by Bayer which contains the same modified protein as the unauthorized strain in question.