Biotech Updates

European Commission Lifts Emergency Measures on US Long-Grain Rice

April 23, 2010

A decision by the member states of the European Union to lift the emergency measures on U.S. long-grain rice was recently released. In late 2006, the testing of long-grain rice for the presence of the LL601 trait was initiated to conform to the European Union's regulation on zero tolerance for unapproved GE traits. The U.S. rice industry established a standard seed testing protocol to eliminate the presence of LL601 from the U.S long-grain supply.

The USA Rice Federation did not detect rice lots containing the LL Rice 601 event in the 2009 crop of harvested rice. Thus, "the removal of this regulation confirms that EU regulators recognize the continued success of the U.S. rice industry's Seed Plan," USA Rice Federation Chairman Jamie Warshaw said. This action is also a recognition of the hard work over many years to remove the LL601 trait from the commercial supply, he added.

Details of the news release can be seen at http://www.usarice.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1053:european-commission-lifts-emergency-measures-on-us-long-grain-rice&catid=84:usarice-newsroom&Itemid=327