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Item 1
Press Release
IP/08/219
Brussels, 12 February 2008
Commission requires certification for Chinese rice products to stop unauthorised GMO from entering the EU
(http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/219&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en)
The European Commission decided today to require compulsory
certification for the imports of Chinese rice products that could
contain the unauthorised GMO Bt63. The decision has been taken after
rice products -originating in, or consigned from, China and containing
the unauthorised genetically modified rice “Bt 63”- were discovered in
the EU market between 2006 and 2007. Despite measures announced by the
Chinese authorities in 2007, alerts concerning the presence of the
unauthorised genetically modified rice “Bt 63” were reported until late
2007. The emergency measures adopted by the Commission today mean that,
as of April 15, only consignments of the rice products indicated in a
specific Annex of the Decision can enter the EU. These consignments
must be tested by an official or accredited laboratory using a specific
testing method and accompanied by the analytical report assuring they
do not contain Bt63.
Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said: "Under EU food safety
legislation, only GMOs, which have undergone a thorough scientific
assessment and authorisation procedure, may be put on the EU market.
The decision adopted today aims to prevent the unauthorised Bt63 rice
from reaching EU consumers, by ensuring that only rice products
certified as free from this GMO enter the EU."
China is responsible for ensuring that Bt63 does not enter the EU food
chain and that imports are certified as free from this unauthorised
GMO. Member State authorities are responsible for controlling the
imports at their borders and for preventing any contaminated
consignments from being placed on the market. In addition, they should
carry out controls on products already on the market, to ensure that
they are free from Bt63. Business operators importing rice products
from China are also responsible for ensuring that Bt63 does not enter
the EU food chain and that imports are certified as free from this
unauthorised GMO, in accordance with the EU food law principle that
operators are responsible for the safety of the food or feed that they
place on the market.
The presence of the unauthorised Bt63 was first discovered in the
United Kingdom, France and Germany and notified to the Rapid Alert
System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in September 2006.
The Chinese competent authorities were immediately requested to provide
detailed information concerning the genetic constructs of the
unauthorised GMO. In response, the Chinese authorities conducted checks
on the cases notified in the RASFF and suspended exports by the
enterprises concerned. They also decided to carry out testing on
exported rice and rice products and required exporting enterprises to
strengthen controls over raw material purchasing.
Despite this first set of measures, a new finding of the unauthorised
genetically modified rice “Bt 63” was once again notified through the
RASFF in February 2007. The Chinese authorities were immediately
informed by the Commission of this new alert and requested to provide
additional guarantees. As a result, they decided to strengthen the
sampling and testing of rice products and required rice products to be
accompanied by an official Chinese Inspection and Quarantine
Certificate.
Despite the measures of the Chinese authorities, other alerts
concerning the presence of “Bt 63” were subsequently reported.
Furthermore, the Chinese authorities were unable to provide the
Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) with the requested control
samples and a protocol of a detection method that were qualitatively
and quantitatively appropriate for the JRC to validate the detection
method used by the Chinese control authorities.
Against the described background the Commission believes it is now
appropriate to proceed immediately with the adoption of emergency
measures, which will impose on an important number of rice products
originating from China a compulsory certificate, based on a test
carried out by an official or accredited laboratory using a specific
testing method.
This decision has been submitted to the Standing Committee on the Food
Chain and Animal Health on 12 February 2008 and the Committee gave its
favourable opinion. The measures will enter into force from the 15th of
April 2008 in order to allow the Member States to take the practical
arrangements for its implementation. The situation shall be reassessed
after six months. The Commission will continue to actively monitor the
situation and adapt the measures if necessary.
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Item 2
EU cracks down on Chinese rice after GM traces found
Feb 12, 2008
(http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1390972.php/%A0EU_cracks_down_on_Chinese_rice_after_GM_traces_found)
Brussels - The European Union on Tuesday decided to crack down on
imports of rice from China, saying that the Chinese authorities had
failed to filter out products containing unauthorized
genetically-modified (GM) material.
'Despite measures announced by the Chinese authorities in 2007, alerts
concerning the presence of the unauthorized GM rice 'Bt 63' were
reported until late 2007,' the European Commission - the EU's executive
- said in a statement.
'The commission believes it is now appropriate to proceed with the
adoption of emergency measures which will impose on an important number
of rice products originating from China a compulsory certificate,' the
statement said.
As of April 15, only rice and rice products which feature on a special
EU-approved list and which have been certified as GM-free by
EU-approved labs will be allowed into the 27-member bloc.
The list covers a huge variety of products, including husked and
polished brown and white rice, rice flour, noodles, rice paper, rice
starch, and unroasted mueslis, a spokeswoman for EU Health Commissioner
Markos Kyprianou told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
EU imports of rice-based noodles from China alone total some 30,000
tons per year, she said. The crackdown came after EU member states
Britain, France and Germanyreported that they had found traces of the
Bt 63 rice in products made in or shipped from China in September 2006.
Under EU law, only GM organisms which have passed EU safety checks can
be marketed in Europe. Bt 63 rice has not passed such tests.
The EU complained to China, which reacted by boosting its export checks
and suspending the export licences of the companies concerned.
But EU member states reported further traces of Bt 63 in February 2007
and continued to report more findings throughout the year, despite
increased Chinese efforts.
'China is responsible for ensuring that Bt 63 does not enter the EU
food chain,' the commission statement said. China had not been able to
prove that its detection methods were good enough to meet EU standards,
the statement said.
The new rules are set to be implemented in nine weeks' time to allow EU
members to make the practical arrangements. The measures are to be
reviewed in six months' time.
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