GM rice importers arrested in Turkey

Turkish media reports that individuals from three companies in the rice import business have been arrested for failure to comply with Turkey's biosafety law, alleging that rice imported by these firms and placed on the Turkish market contains unapproved genetically modified (GM) traits. Two of the companies are involved because of imports of U.S. medium-grain paddy rice from the Mid-South.

No GM rice is produced commercially in the U.S.; the Liberty Link GM trait found in the commercial long-grain supply in 2006 has been effectively eliminated; and no GM traits have ever been detected in U.S. medium-grain rice. The U.S. embassy in Turkey has communicated to senior levels of the Turkish government the lack of GM rice production in the U.S. and the embassy's great concern over the lack of rigor in the sampling and testing of imported U.S. rice for GM presence. Several of the U.S. rice cargoes in question have undergone multiple GM tests, with legal action being taken following a positive test result. Turkey's biosafety law prohibits importing and placing on the market agricultural goods containing unapproved GM traits, even if those traits are at low levels and caused by in-transit contamination from a previous cargo containing a GM product.

Turkey imported 147,757 metric tons of U.S. rice in 2012, valued at $63 million. Consumers in Turkey prefer medium-grain rice, and importers source from the mid-South and California. Paddy rice predominates, and accounted for 72 percent of total imports from the U.S. last year.

USA Rice will continue to assist the Office of Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. embassy and to educate customers and consumers in Turkey about U.S. rice's high quality, safety and lack of GM presence.

After China, Philippines may approve GMO rice

The Philippines may follow China as the next Asian country to approve widespread planting of genetically modified rice crops, possibly as early as 2011, an industry expert said on Tuesday. The Philippines, the world's largest rice importer, is one of several countries currently in field tests for GMO rice crops, Robert Zeigler, director general of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), said at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit. Golden Rice, a Vitamin A-enriched grain developed by the IRRI is being bred into local varieties as well in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Vietnam as part of testing to ensure safety, he said. "There's some possibility that it would be the Philippines that will get approval next, for Golden Rice. Probably late 2011 or early 2012," Zeigler said. "Bangladesh will follow very shortly thereafter and India, probably a year or two later." China approved the safety of a locally developed insect-resistant Bt strain of rice last November, opening the door to widespread introduction of the GMO crop within about three years. With a gene bank of around 100,000 rice varieties, IRRI breeds high-yielding strains of rice to meet growing demand. The institute kickstarted the Green Revolution in the 1960s that boosted harvests of the staple food for nearly half the world's 6.8 billion population. VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY The availability of Golden Rice, which contains genes from maize and other sources of beta-carotene, was expected to address the deficiency of the micronutrient, Vitamin A, especially among the poor in Asia. Over 90 million children in Southeast Asia suffer from Vitamin A deficiency, more than in any other region, according to IRRI, and the introduction of Golden Rice in the Philippines may be largely meant to benefit public health instead of boosting yields to curb imports. China's newly approved pest-resistant variety could be used for up to 40 percent of the rice crop in the country, the world's top producer and consumer of the grain. PRESSURE ON RICE SUPPLY Zeigler said there is continuing pressure on global rice supply with a reduced amount of both water and land available for rice production which should prompt concern and study. The El Nino weather anomaly, which can induce drier weather in Asia, is also a threat to production, he said. "We need to have a combination of sound government policies to develop rice supplies and these policies need to be based on solid scientific research," said Zeigler.

GM paddy rice to hit China market shortly: expert

Genetically modified (GM) paddy rice is expected to be available in the market in about three to five years, according to a Ministry of Agriculture think tank member. Huang Dafang, a member of the think tank on the safety of GM food, rejected suggestions by four delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) that the commercialization of GM foods should be slowed down. "Our conclusion is clear. We are technically ready and have strong international competitive strength," Huang told Guangzhou Daily in Tuesday's edition. Huang said assessments from both the research center and other parties, such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, proved that GM rice is as safe as traditionally grown rice. The think tank has been studying and analyzing GM foods in China since 1999, and over 10 tons of GM rice is being tested on animals. But some experts and politicians said GM foods come with unknown risks. Cheng Enfu, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), told hexun.com Tuesday that risks are hard to be assessed, and warned that there is a possibility of gene pollution. He called for legislation to supervise the commercialization, import and sales of GM grains and materials. Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist and educator, told the national committee of CPPCC on Friday that the government should be prudent when approving the commercialization of GM plants. "Scientists cannot fully predict what kind of mutation might result from gene modification and the possible danger to the environment and human beings," Yuan said. The impact of GM foods will not be fully known until several decades later, he noted. He said it takes "two generations of people to prove the safety of GM foods," and called on volunteers to join him to eat GM foods to prove its safety. "If there is nothing wrong with the children of these volunteers, then the food is safe," Yuan said. But Yuan also said denying GM foods without scientific evidence is not appropriate. "GM foods are unavoidable and it's the future; more efforts should be paid in the research and application of GM techniques," he said. GM plants, often produced to resist pests and insect damage, can raise output and are relatively cheaper than traditional foods, scientists said. In November, the ministry granted safety certificates to two types of GM paddy rice and one type of GM corn produced domestically, for the first time. Last Tuesday, the ministry denied speculation that they gave the green light to import GM seeds and allowed largescale domestic cultivation, China Philanthropy Times reported Tuesday.

Gene rice on its way in China

Genetically modified rice cleared for commercial sale could be growing on Chinese farms as early as next year, making China the first country to allow commercial cultivation of GM strains. The field trials required for any new variety are now under way, following official safety clearance November.

Two varieties, called Huahui 1 and Bt Shanyou 63, received clearance and should be launched within the next two years. Both contain "Bt" proteins from the Bacillus thuringiensis bacterium to protect them against the rice stem borer, the most serious rice pest in China.

"I expect that large-scale production of these two insect-resistant rices will occur in 2011 in Hubei province, one of the major rice production regions in China," says Jikun Huang, director of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

If all goes well in Hubei, Huang expects rapid commercial approval elsewhere in China. He brushes aside the idea that the GM varieties may damage trade by contaminating exports, pointing out that exports account for less than 1 per cent of the country's total rice production.

Previous experimental field trials of GM rice varieties in China, including the two now poised for commercialisation, showed that they benefited poor farmers and decreased their exposure to harmful pesticides.

Bob Zeigler, director of the non-profit International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, the Philippines, is optimistic about the future of GM rice, saying that GM technology can deliver unique traits that are otherwise unobtainable. This year, farmers in India and the Philippines have begun receiving a flood-tolerant rice developed at the IRRI which is non-GM but was developed using knowledge from GM studies.

India Government Bans Imports Of Genetically Modified Rice

The import of rice in India is permitted only if the exporter is able to furnish a certificate from the competent government authorities from country of export that the exported rice is GM free," the government said in a statement dated Tuesday.

India allows regulated trials for GM-rice but none of these types have been released for commercial cultivation.

Such trials have also been stopped in those regions, where Basmati rice is grown, known for its unique aroma, grain length and cooking properties. Basmati, one of the world's costliest rice types, is grown only in some parts India and Pakistan.