U.S. GMO RICE ARRIVING?

by Bernie Lopez

 

Greenpeace has given a warning that the 'cheap US rice' GMA intends to import may be the genetically engineered (GE) variety that may be harmful to eat and may contaminate our current varieties irreversibly.

 

In fact, this GE or GMO (genetically modified organism) rice that is dreaded by environmentalists to reach Philippine shores may have arrived. Greenpeace reported on February 28 that "the rice that arrived from the US under the PL480 may be contaminated with GMOs."

 

Daniel Ocampo, Genetic Engineering Campaigner of Greenpeace further reports, "US long grain rice (specially from Texas and Arkansas) has been central in GMO contamination scandals since 2006 and traces of the GMO (Bayer LL601 and LL602, not approved for consumption in most countries in the EU and the Philippines, have not yet been completely eradicated from the US rice supply. The NFA says that the said rice is GMO-free, but we believe the US tests conducted are not reliable. Since January 2007, 23 US-tested GMO-free rice shipments were rejected in the EU because they tested positive for GMOs under EU standards. Greenpeace is challenging the NFA to conduct more stringent tests on the said US rice shipment.

 

"The current rice crisis shows how rice is an integral part of our lives. GMO contamination of our rice supply will also have serious consequences. GMOs harm the environment and farmers' livelihoods and have never been proven safe for human consumption."

 

Imports of US GMO rice is banned presently in Japan and the EU. The discovery by EU tests disproving US rice as GMO-free reveals the malice of US biotech multinationals, which have a powerful lobby group that influences the US-FDA to support them, to export it anyway. As a last resort, they will dump it into Third World countries, being unwanted in EU and Japan.

 

Sr. Aida Velasquez of Lingkod Tao Kalikasan (LTK) says the track record of our regulators is disturbing, having approved all GMO applications without exception. GMO rice will surely be approved. She cites approval of GMOs even though they have not been tested here, so that the multinationals can show other countries we approved them. We are the guinea pigs who will be the first to eat GMO rice. She says LTK, together with Greenpeace, Searice and Masipag gave questions on the conduct of tests about GMO rice to the Bureau of Plant Industries (BPI) two years ago, which have remained unanswered until now.

 

Sr. Aida adds that the threat of contaminating our local varieties will “reduce us to destitution” because not only is it not yet proven to be safe for human consumption, contamination is also irreversible. GMO rice has a potential deep effect on the lives of every Filipino. She says it is ‘sickening’ that the present crisis is being used by opportunists to dump their products here, which have been banned in Japan and the EU.

 

NFA earlier said BPI was tasked with testing GMO rice, which they either have not done or are keeping secret. But later on, NFA said the rice they have are GMO-free when they did not release any test results and that is BPI’s task, casting doubts on their claims.

 

Finally, Sr. Aida says the government is to blame for not being able to give much-needed credits to small farmers, which is the root cause of our lack of productivity and dependence on imports. Productivity is the long term solution, not imports, she says.

 

The effects of GMO rice is not known. Past negative effects of GMOs in general include rats fed with GMO soy flour dying, and with Monsanto's GM corn developing blood and kidney abnormalities. Higaonons blamed Monsanto's GMO BT-corn for deaths of those exposed to its pollen or who ate it. GMO papaya seeds in Thailand were found contaminated with a tetracyclin-resistant gene. The UNFAO-created Codex warned that people may develop immunity to tetracyclin antibiotic. The farm was burned to the ground (Bangkok Post, July 1, 2005).

REAL VS ARTIFICIAL RICE SHORTAGE

 

THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE RICE SHORTAGE, ONLY AN INCREASE IN PRICE. THERE IS NO NEED TO PANIC EXCEPT IN CATCHING HOARDERS AND PRODUCING MORE RICE IN THE LONG TERM. OUR PANIC ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO SHORTAGE BY OVER-BUYING.

 

NFA announced a slight price increase of its rice from its current P18.25 per kilo, which is still near double of commercial prices, to lessen the ballooning government subsidy of about P8 per kilo, or 5 million kilos or P40 million per day. The huge disparity between subsidized and commercial rice invites hoarding. Rice shortage is therefore two-fold - real and artificial, and no one knows the ratio between the two. When the biggest rice exporter, Thailand, reduced export by 30% to insure their local supply, that is real, not hoarding. It automatically translates into less rice available globally. But when, as a consequence, fuelled by media reports of shortage, traders hold on to their stocks to further increase the price before they sell, that is artificial and plain hoarding.

 

How much of our rice shortage is real and artificial? If the artificial is larger than the real, then we really have to lynch the hoarders to save the nation. If the real is larger, then the productivity programs so nicely articulated have to be implemented without corruption. The most critical solution is credit to small rice farmers who produce majority of our rice nationwide.

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