Developed by Bayer CropScience,
LLRICE601, which is experimental, was last grown in 2001, and
neither Bayer nor the U.S. government has been able to explain how
the contamination occurred following the discovery in August 2006.
Many U.S. rice import markets, including Europe and Japan, have
already put measures in place to prevent the contaminated imports
from entering. This is the first time that Mexico has taken a
precautionary measure on the importation of genetically engineered
foods.
The measures taken by the Mexican
government comes almost two weeks after Greenpeace demanded the
immediate suspension of genetically engineered rice imports. Since
issuing that call, Greenpeace activists held two demonstrations in
Mexico, one in front of the Ministry of Health, and the second
preceding the meeting between Presidents Bush and Calderon.
“Mexico has a golden opportunity to
make a 180-degree turn in its genetic engineering policies, to work
with the rice industry in elevating domestic production and
advancing towards the goal of agricultural self-sufficiency,” said
Gustavo Ampugnani, anti-genetic engineering campaigner with
Greenpeace Mexico.
Mexico is currently the largest
export market for U.S. rice. In 2006, U.S. rice exports to Mexico
were valued at a record $205 million, according to the USA Rice
Federation, which is also in contact with the U.S. embassy in
Mexico City over the border closing. It is estimated that 63
percent of the value of U.S. rice imports have been affected by the
LLRICE601 variety.
The contaminated rice has been found
in rice supplies throughout the southern U.S., and the LLRICE601
contamination scandal, discovered in August 2006, has been the
worst crisis for the U.S. rice industry in recent memory. The USA
Rice Federation adopted an emergency plan to keep the contamination
from next year’s harvest, although the bulk of the 2006 harvest is
yet to be sold. With the discovery last week of further
unidentified contamination, the USDA has taken the unprecedented
step of ordering a ban on sales and planting of contaminated
rice seed and the uprooting of rice that has already been
planted.
VVPR info: [email protected]
Exp. contact date: 2007-04-15 00:00:00
