EU Requires Testing of U.S. Long-Grain Rice

WASHINGTON, August 23, 2006 — The European Commission (EC) today decided to require that U.S. long-grain rice imports be certified as free from the unauthorized LL 601 rice variety genetically engineered by Bayer CropSciences. This decision comes in light of the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement that the LL 601 strain has been found in samples of commercial long-grain rice.

The Commission will submit its decision to the member state experts for review within 10 days, and the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health will meet on Friday 25 August. The regulation will most likely be revised after the member states review it.

“As we await the final decision of the Standing Committee, it is important to recognize that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared the long-grain rice variety in question to be safe for human consumption,” USA Rice spokesman David Coia said.

USA Rice will work with USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative to provide comments to the EU Mission in Washington for use in the multi-state review.

Contacts: Bob Cummings, (703) 236-1473, rcummings@usarice.com and David Coia, (703) 236-1444, dcoia@usarice.com

USA Rice Federation is the national advocate for all segments of the rice industry, conducting activities to influence government programs, developing and initiating programs to increase worldwide demand for U.S. rice, and providing other services to increase profitability for all industry segments.