US Bans Farmers from Planting GMO-Tainted Rice

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40777/story.htm

WASHINGTON - The US Department of Agriculture on Friday banned farmers from planting a variety of rice containing genetically modified material that has not been approved by the government, and it told growers to destroy any plantings of the seed.


"Testing...has confirmed the presence of trace levels of genetic material not yet approved for commercialization in Clearfield 131 (CL131) rice seed," USDA said, adding, "This seed is not an option for planting this crop season."

Government tests confirmed results received from private testing announced on Monday, which prompted USDA to order seed dealers to stop selling the long-grain rice seed.

The agency said that farmers who already planted the seed can either destroy the plants after they sprout or treat them with an herbicide.

Arkansas state officials said the Clearfield variety apparently carried the Liberty Link RICE601 gene material, a genetically modified strain made by Bayer CropScience. The rice variety disrupted the US rice industry last summer after the material was found in commercial bins in Arkansas and Missouri.
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Ok I'm totally stunned that Agriculture banned this usually GMO food is given the go ahead
wonder whats up???

...as the price for their approval. Either that or Monsanto didn't want a Swiss/German company cutting in on their racket, so they got their pet Rottweilers at the DoA to stick the knife in.

:rofl: Dang good point

I'm stunned I'm wondering if something is making them reevaluate GMO food

It has not been approved yet, thats why it is 'banned'.

That's so terribly booooring. Conspiracies and dark dealings in smokey rooms are far more interesting. Sheesh.

Greenpeace slaps NFA with Notice of Violation over failure to act on GMO-tainted rice

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/news/keep-our-rice-gmo-free

Manila, Philippines — Greenpeace slapped the National Food Authority (NFA) with a Notice of Violation for allowing the importation and continued sale of genetically-modified rice which, by law, cannot be legally distributed and marketed for human consumption in the country. Serving the notice was a team of Greenpeace GMO Patrol activists who marched to the NFA’s main office in Quezon City to deliver the demand personally to NFA administrator Mr. Jessup Navarro.
Along with the notice, the activists displayed a banner with the message “Keep our rice GMO free!” to protest the NFA’s careless attitude toward the presence of GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) in the supply of the country’s most important staple food. Greenpeace also handed the NFA copies of the new Greenpeace report “Rice Industry in Crisis” outlining the worldwide tide of opposition to GMO rice, with the world’s biggest exporters, processors, and retailers, issuing written commitments to stay GMO-free.

“Since last year, Greenpeace has repeatedly alerted the NFA about the presence in the market of GMO-tainted rice banned for human consumption. But NFA consistently refused to respond to the issue. Is the NFA deliberately turning a blind eye to GMO-rice contamination? Or are they so monumentally inefficient they are incapable of fulfilling their task of protecting the country’s food supply and the interests of Filipino consumers? The NFA cannot continue to be silent. Today, we are compelling them to publicly answer this issue,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Genetic-Engineering campaigner Daniel Ocampo
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its almost like Biochemical warfare

http://www.flexnews.com/pages/5097/Germany/GMO/rice/germany_says_found_illegal_gmo_rice_us_china.html

Berlin, Oct 4 - German consumer protection authorities said on Wednesday that they detected the presence of banned genetically modified (GMO) rice from the United States and China in various food products.

The German tests, carried out by ministry for environment and consumer protection in the state of Hesse in central Germany, revealed that 11 samples from eight different food products carried trace amounts of LL Rice 601 from the United States.

Five samples from three different products showed the unauthorised Chinese Rice BT 63.

No GMO rice is allowed to be grown, sold or marketed in the European Union's 25 countries, where consumers have a reputation for mistrust of GMO foods. GMO food manufacturers, however, insist that their products are safe.

In August, the EU tightened requirements on U.S. imports to prove the absence of LL Rice 601, developed by Germany's Bayer AG.
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China has its brands too

California rice industry nervous about GMO contamination 1,600 miles away

http://westernfarmpress.com/news/08-25-rice-nervous-GMO/

The California rice industry has twice staved off major controversies over genetically modified (GM) rice on its own turf only to find itself justifiably nervous today with the discovery of GMO long grain rice contaminating commercial conventional, stored rice more than 1,600 miles away.

The discovery of the long grain GMO rice in bins of commercial rice storage in Missouri and Arkansas drew a swift response from Japan, a major California rice customer. Japan banned long grain rice imports from the U.S. immediately after USDA announced the discovery. The discovery also sent rice futures plummeting.

However, the California rice industry exhaled a big sigh of relief when Japan’s announcement banning U.S. long grain rice imports excluded medium and short grain rice, the exclusive rice types grown in California’s 500,000 acres of rice paddies.

Tim Johnson, president of the California Rice Commission, said California grows a very small percentage of long grain rice, but it is all sold domestically.

“Ninety-five percent of California’s production is medium and short grain rice,” said Johnson. About 50 percent of California’s rice crop is exported annually. The same percentage holds for all U.S. rice.
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"Don't ever mess with Mama Nature boy. She's the meanest bitch ever if ya rile her" To him this meant not spraying poisons on our land, rebuilding the soil by planting legumes (purple vetch) and nitrogen rich plants, basically living WITH the land. He was a very wise man.

He quit the big time seed companies when they started pushing over fertilization and chemical treatments in the name of higher yields. I can only wonder what he'd think about this GMO thing. We'll never know because he's buried right up the slope from us fertilizing the ground he loved so much.

I just hope that this action is not too late. The Bushies and fundies are so worried about cloning people and this is a much larger and looming threat.

:patriot: