Sacramento, California
March 15, 2007
Following mounting concern over
the discovery of trace levels of genetic material unapproved for
commercialization in long grain rice seed outside of California,
the California Rice Commission
voted this morning to support a moratorium “on the field testing
of all genetically modified (GM) rice cultivars in the State of
California for the 2007 crop, and for future crops, until such
time as research protocol and safeguards are acceptable to the
California Rice Commission."
It is the position of the industry
that a moratorium on GM field testing in California would allow
for an opportunity to evaluate federal regulations that
safeguard the rice industry.
Following the August discovery of
GM traits in long grain rice produced in southern rice growing
states, the California rice industry undertook a comprehensive
review of the impacts on markets and potential impacts on
commercially grown rice in the state.
The announcement by APHIS within
recent weeks that two additional GM traits had been discovered
in a variety of long grain rice, the California rice industry
voted for a moratorium to evaluate the federal regulations that
are the basis for all GM rice research in the state.
“Based on the events of the last
few months, it is clear that the federal regulatory process is
not working for rice,” commented Frank Rehermann, Chair of the
CRC Board and a rice producer in Live Oak, California. “It is
imperative that those systems are evaluated and approved.”
California has tested is public
seed four times since August, all with non-detect results for
Liberty Link varieties LL601, LL62 and LL06. None of the GM
events in question are present in California, and commercial
production of GM rice is currently not occurring in California
or elsewhere in the U.S.
As a precautionary move to further
reassure it markets of the integrity of state’s rice, the AB
2622 Advisory Board, as authorized by the California Rice
Certification Act, has adopted the requirement that all
California rice variety owners submit samples for laboratory
testing and confirm a non-detect status to approve those
varieties for production in California during the 2007 crop
year.
California already has the
strongest body of law in the U.S. to address market concerns.
Passed in 2000, the California Rice Certification Act provides
direction and establishes measures that enable the industry to
regulate new rice variety introductions and research within the
state.
On August 18, 2006, the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that trace amounts of
regulated, genetically engineered (GE) rice were found in
samples taken from commercially produced long grain rice. The
trace amounts in question have only been identified in Southern
long grain rice, in a variety that is not present in California.
The California rice industry is
based in the Sacramento Valley. Each year, California rice
producers plant and harvest over 500,000 acres of rice,
contributing a half-billion dollars to the economy and providing
habitat and fodder for 235 species of wildlife along the Pacific
Flyway. The California Rice Commission represents the 2,500
growers and handlers who farm and process rice in the state
annually. |
