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China's rice exports may have GE contamination

Environmental group Greenpeace warned yesterday that illegal genetically engineered (GE) rice might contaminate China's exports to other countries.

China, the sixth-largest exporter of the world's most widely consumed staple crop, is reportedly about to decide whether to commercialize GE rice, but global food chains could be at risk even now, according to Greenpeace.

"We can't rule out the possibility that GE rice could contaminate rice exports from China," Sze Pang Cheung, a Greenpeace campaign manager, told a briefing in Beijing.

China is expected to ship 1.5 million tonnes of rice to foreign markets this year, up from one million tonnes last year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

NO EVIDENCE

While there is no concrete evidence of GE rice in Chinese exports, there are two possible ways of contamination, he said.

"One, it will contaminate processed rice and go overseas, and the other possibility is that [it] could be used as ingredients for rice products or products which include rice ingredients," he said.

Japan, South Korea and the EU have already raised concerns with the Chinese government regarding the possible contamination of Chinese rice exports, according to Greenpeace.

The Greenpeace announcement came just weeks after the organization sounded the alarm over the proliferation of illegal GE rice in the central Chinese province of Hubei.

CONSUMPTION

Adding to the concerns, samples of the Hubei rice have now been found with traders in the huge city of Guangzhou, north of Hong Kong.

"They mainly sell to factories, canteens as well as fastfood chains. So we're sure people are consuming it unknowingly," Sze said.

"Immediate recall actions are needed if we are to prevent consumers from exposure to risks of untested GE rice," he said.

GE rice is popular with some Hubei farmers as it is engineered to produce an inbuilt pesticide, but the majority of them would not dream of eating it themselves, according to Greenpeace, citing findings from a field trip.

"Most of the farmers we met don't eat this rice. They would explain that it is because they are afraid that this rice will harm their health," Sze said.

While the precise impact on human health from the GE rice remains uncertain, experiments with mice have yielded an allergenic reaction, according to Sze.

"Based on this we believe there is a serious health concern there," he said.

Greenpeace yesterday also presented what it said was conclusive evidence of the source of the contamination.

COOL REACTION

"Some GE rice seeds that were sold in the markets were advertised as a product of New Technology Company of Huazhong Agriculture University," Sze said.

"This company is owned by the same university that is responsible for field trials of GE rice in Hubei."

Up to 29 tonnes of GE rice seeds have been sold in Hubei this year, and if no recall action is taken, the seeds could produce up to 14,500 tonnes of GE rice when harvested, according to Greenpeace estimates.

After its recent Hubei findings, which had been supported by laboratory findings in Germany, Greenpeace met a cool reaction from the Chinese authorities.

"The response was that China has its own inspection system, and they don't recognize testing results done by a laboratory in Germany," Sze said.

He said Greenpeace was "very disappointed" that the ministry of agriculture has not taken any kind of action against the illegal activities.

"We think it is unacceptable and irresponsible that they are not taking this issue seriously, because rice is the most important staple crop in China," he said.
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