Quarantine of US Rice Sought

Subic Bay, Philippines, 28 Feb 2008 — Greenpeace today warned
Philippine authorities that a shipment of rice from the USA, currently
being offloaded at Subic port, may be contaminated with genetically
modified rice which is illegal under Philippine laws. Greenpeace
activists on rubber inflatables hung a banner stating “GMO RICE RISK” on
the hull of MV Liberty Eagle, the container ship that is unloading about
44,000 metric tonnes of the suspect rice.

“The NFA must quarantine this shipment and run stringent tests based on
EU protocols before the rice is distributed to the public. The US and
Philippine GMO testing procedures are grossly inadequate,” said Daniel
M. Ocampo, Genetic Engineering Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
“GMO rice has not been proven safe for human consumption and should
never be allowed in the country.”

The NFA and US testing procedures require a GMO test sample of 100 grams
out of 50,000 tons. That means about one grain out of every 500 million
grains is tested. In contrast, the EU requires a minimum of 2.5 kilogram
sample for testing, making it easier to detect the presence of GMO grains.

From 2007 to 2008, twenty three US rice shipments cleared by American
authorities were barred in the EU for GMO contamination. In 2006,
Greenpeace also revealed the presence of GMO-contaminated rice from the
US (Bayer’s herbicide resistant LL601 rice) in supermarkets in Manila.
This prompted the NFA to issue an order requiring imported rice to be
free from GMOs and has stopped the importation of rice from the US since
late 2006. Purefeeds, the distributor of American GMO-contaminated rice,
had to recall the remaining stocks from store shelves and replaced it
with rice from Thailand.

Bayer, the developer of GMO rice varieties that contaminated the US rice
supply is facing lawsuits from farmers and US rice traders whose
combined losses are estimated at around US$ 1.2 billion. The adverse
impacts of GMO rice contamination in the US still lingers in many
countries around the world including the Philippines.

“Rice is the most important food for Filipinos. Importing rice from the
US exposes Filipinos to the inherent risks of GMOs on human health and
threatens our staple food with genetic contamination. The NFA should
stop the distribution of this rice from the US unless they can prove
beyond reasonable doubt that it is indeed free from GMOs,” Ocampo said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Daniel Ocampo, Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, +63 917 8976416
Grace Duran-Cabus, Media Assistant, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, +63 917
8860662

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