China slows GMO rice plan as concerns mount

By Nao Nakanishi
     HONG KONG, Nov 22 (Reuters) - China is applying the brakes to its
plan to produce the world's first genetically modified rice for human
consumption as concerns mount over safety, especially with reports that
illegal transgenic rice is already being sold in some provinces.
     Scientists and activists say that China's biosafety committee is
unlikely to reach a consensus at a meeting this week on
commercialisation of genetically modified, or GMO, rice for the world's
biggest producer and consumer of the grain.
     The government has added more food and environment safety 
experts to
the committee, which is to examine and make recommendation to Beijing on
four varieties of insect or disease resistant GMO rice varieties in the
pipeline.
     "I don't think they'll come to a consensus. There will be different
opinions," Angus Lam, a campaigner from Greenpeace in China, told
Reuters. "There has been some setback for GMO rice. It's not moving as
fast as we expected."
     Early this year China, already the leading producer of GMO cotton,
looked set to approve commercialisation of a GMO rice, which would lead
to the release of the world's first major transgenic crop for direct
human consumption.
     Yet so far, Beijing has not given the green light to the disease
resistant Xa21 rice, recommended by the committee last December. Its
added gene is derived from a wild rice, which some said should help
convince sceptics of its safety.
     "Last year the committee said yes to the Xa21 GM rice, but it was
not approved by the government," said Lu Baorong, professor at Fudan
University in Shanghai, one of the 74 members of the new committee, who
was also a member of the previous committee.
     "The safety requirement is getting tougher and tougher because of
the concerns ... Because rice is for food, the government really wants
to make sure that they make no mistake," said the deputy director for
Institute of Biodiversity Science.
     Other rice varieties, which are at the advanced stage of field
study, include the insect resistant rice that contains a toxic bacterial
gene, the insect resistant CpTI rice with a gene from cowpea and the
Bt/CpTI rice that contains both genes.

     ILLEGAL RICE
     The scientists and activists said Beijing was caught off guard in
April when Greenpeace announced that the unapproved GMO rice was on sale
in the markets in the central province of Hubei, one of China's major
rice producers.
     Greenpeace also found illegal sale of the rice in the southern
province of Guangdong in June, which it said showed the transgenic rice
was spreading across China and could enter markets overseas.
     Some of China's top trading partners, including the European Union,
Japan and South Korea, expressed concern about the reports and they
asked Beijing for clarification. At home, it led Guangdong to suspend
rice purchases from Hubei.
     "Our view is still the technology offers great potential," said Ren
Wang, a Chinese scientist at International Rice Research Institute in
the Philippines.
     "However, these countries really need to put in place a biosafety
regulatory scheme that ensures proper use of the technology. No
transgenic rice should be allowed into commercial production before
approval."
     Now Japan tests rice and rice products from China to prevent
transgenic rice from entering the country as consumers are not convinced
of its safety.
     Though China no longer belongs to the world's top five rice
exporters, it sells rice and rice products, including organic rice, to
Japan, South Korea and Africa.
     Ironically, China just ratified a United Nation's protocol pledging
more transparency and control over trade in GMO products.
     "Domestic trade is also an issue," said Wang of the international
rice institute. "There are different views towards transgenic rice and
different controlling mechanisms in different provinces."
     Sze Pangcheung from Greenpeace, agreed: "If you know you have a
regulatory gap and you do have market concerns ... you should do
something before you make the decision for commercialisation. Because
once you make that, there's no way to turn back," he said.
     (Additional reporting by Niu Shuping in Beijing)
  ((Reporting by Nao Nakanishi; editing by Russell Blinch;
nao.nakanishi@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
nao.nakanishi.reuters.com@reuters.net; +852 2843 1652))
  Tuesday, 22 November 2005 15:03:07RTRS [nHKG236503] {C}ENDS