{"id":517,"date":"2007-02-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/master.k8s.p4.greenpeace.org\/india\/uncategorized\/517\/greenpeace-slaps-nfa-with-notice-of-violation-over-failure-to-act-on-gmo-tainted-rice\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T08:46:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:46:38","slug":"greenpeace-slaps-nfa-with-notice-of-violation-over-failure-to-act-on-gmo-tainted-rice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/press\/517\/greenpeace-slaps-nfa-with-notice-of-violation-over-failure-to-act-on-gmo-tainted-rice\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace slaps NFA with Notice of Violation over failure to act on GMO-tainted rice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\tMANILA, Philippines \u2014 Greenpeace slapped the National Food Authority (NFA) with a Notice of Violation for allowing the importation and continued sale of genetically-modified rice which, by law, cannot be legally distributed and marketed for human consumption in the country. Serving the notice was a team of Greenpeace GMO Patrol activists who marched to the NFA\u2019s main office in Quezon City to deliver the demand personally to NFA administrator Mr. Jessup Navarro.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>
\n <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n Greenpeace campaigner, Daniel Ocampo, together with a team of Greenpeace GMO Patrol marches before the entrance of the National Food Authority (NFA) head office moments before Greenpeace slapped the NFA with a Notice of Violation for allowing the importation and continued sale of genetically-modified rice which, by law, cannot be legally distributed and marketed for human consumption in the country.\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Along with the notice, the activists displayed a banner with the
\nmessage “Keep our rice GMO free!” to protest the NFA’s careless
\nattitude toward the presence of GMOs (genetically-modified
\norganisms) in the supply of the country’s most important staple
\nfood. Greenpeace also handed the NFA copies of the new Greenpeace
\nreport “Rice Industry in Crisis” outlining the worldwide tide of
\nopposition to GMO rice, with the world’s biggest exporters,
\nprocessors, and retailers, issuing written commitments to stay
\nGMO-free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“Since last year, Greenpeace has repeatedly alerted the NFA
\nabout the presence in the market of GMO-tainted rice banned for
\nhuman consumption. But NFA consistently refused to respond to the
\nissue. Is the NFA deliberately turning a blind eye to GMO-rice
\ncontamination? Or are they so monumentally inefficient they are
\nincapable of fulfilling their task of protecting the country’s food
\nsupply and the interests of Filipino consumers? The NFA cannot
\ncontinue to be silent. Today, we are compelling them to publicly
\nanswer this issue,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia
\nGenetic-Engineering campaigner Daniel Ocampo.<\/p>\n

Greenpeace revealed November last year that an imported US rice
\nbrand, distributed by Purefeeds Corp of Sta. Ana, Manila, “Uncle
\nSam Texas Long Grain,” was tainted with the GMO Bayer LL601. LL601
\nis rice genetically altered to resist the powerful herbicide
\nglufosinate. It is illegal (not approved for distribution or human
\nconsumption) everywhere in the world<\/p>\n

\u00a0 except in the US where Bayer applied for its marketing
\napproval only after it massively and illegally contaminated the
\nglobal food chain. The LL601 contamination scandal prompted major
\nrice dealers across the world to commit to GMO-free production and
\ntrade, and has led the EU, Japan, and Russia to stringently test US
\nrice imports for the GMO-strain to protect their rice markets from
\nillegal GMO contamination.<\/p>\n

“Uncle Sam Texas Long Grain” however, continues to be sold in
\nPhilippine supermarkets. The NFA, the state grains trading firm,
\naside from being the country’s leading rice importer, also oversees
\nand regulates rice imports of farmers groups and traders. At the
\nheight of the worldwide Bayer LL601 scandal last year, the NFA
\nissued a statement that they will monitor rice imports from the US
\nand prevent GMO-tainted varieties from entering the country.
\nHowever, the agency ignored the need to monitor GMO-tainted rice
\nalready in Philippine shores. Up until now, the NFA refrains from
\ncommenting and acting on “Uncle Sam Texas Long Grain.” Greenpeace
\nis demanding that the NFA recall the said GMO rice from the market,
\nand prevent further GMO contamination of the country’s staple
\nfood.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

“But the silence may in part be due to the government’s
\nfavorable stance toward GMOs. Despite the global movement toward
\nthe rejection of GMO rice, the government is on the brink of
\napproving an application for the first GMO rice in the Philippine
\nmarket. Bayer LL62, also genetically-modified to be herbicide
\nresistant, might soon be approved for human consumption,” said
\nOcampo. “But the NFA must keep in mind that the global Bayer
\ncontamination last year proved that GMO rice is risky, causing
\nmassive financial damage to the global rice industry. The
\ncommercial growing of GE rice must never become a reality; or its
\nimpact on the our most important food crop would be
\ndisastrous.”<\/p>\n

\n

“Since last year, Greenpeace has repeatedly alerted the NFA
\nabout the presence in the market of GMO-tainted rice banned for
\nhuman consumption. But NFA consistently refused to respond to the
\nissue. Is the NFA deliberately turning a blind eye to GMO-rice
\ncontamination? Or are they so monumentally inefficient they are
\nincapable of fulfilling their task of protecting the country’s food
\nsupply and the interests of Filipino consumers? The NFA cannot
\ncontinue to be silent. Today, we are compelling them to publicly
\nanswer this issue.”<\/p>\n

Daniel Ocampo<\/p>\n

Greenpeace Southeast Asia Genetic-Engineering campaigner<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He added: “Along with governments from around the world, the
\nPhilippines must respond to the economic, market and environmental
\ndamage caused by the 2006 GMO rice contamination and reject
\noutright any GMO rice food and cultivation applications currently
\non the table. GMO rice should not be developed as genetic
\nengineering is an unnecessary, unwanted, and<\/p>\n

outdated technology that threatens the world’s most important
\nstaple food.”<\/p>\n


\nKnow more about Genetically Modified Rice<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

More information on Bayer LL601<\/a>
<\/span><\/p>\n

Take Action!<\/h3>\n

Send your demands to keep our rice GMO Free!<\/a><\/p>\n

Support us!<\/h3>\n

Help us continue to fight against GE contamination of our food.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA, Philippines \u2014 Greenpeace slapped the National Food Authority (NFA) with a Notice of Violation for allowing the importation and continued sale of genetically-modified rice which, by law, cannot be legally distributed and marketed for human consumption in the country. Serving the notice was a team of Greenpeace GMO Patrol activists who marched to the NFA\u2019s main office in Quezon City to deliver the demand personally to NFA administrator Mr. Jessup Navarro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[29],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-living","tag-health","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4353,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions\/4353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}