What Happens When Your Genes Fly Open

Evidence gathered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and testing conducted by two USDA laboratories as part of an ongoing investigation into the presence of minute levels of regulated genetic material found in BASF’s Clearfield® 131 (CL131) rice seed has identified LLRICE604 as the source of the genetic material.  The LLRICE604 was developed by Bayer Cropscience for herbicide tolerance as part of the LLRICE600 series.  The protein contained in LLRICE604 (phosphinothricin-N-acetyltransferase or PAT), has a long history of safe use and is present in many deregulated products.  The PAT protein has been repeatedly and thoroughly scientifically evaluated and is used safely in food and feed, cultivation and breeding in the United States as well as nearly a dozen other countries around the world.  The APHIS has previously deregulated similar genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant products such as corn, canola and soybean.  Based on this determination, APHIS will not prevent movement or processing of CL131 rice from previous years.  In 1999, APHIS deregulated two similar herbicide tolerant rice lines, LLRICE62 and LLRICE06.  After thorough safety evaluations, APHIS extended this deregulation in November 2006 to include LLRICE601.  At this time, APHIS has not received a petition from Bayer to deregulate LLRICE604.  Because LLRICE604 remains a regulated article, producers will not be permitted to plant any CL131 seed that is currently on hold (see Chemically Speaking, March 2007).

Meanwhile, state-level activities surrounding this situation are flourishing.  In Minnesota, politicians are considering passing legislation to protect wild rice.  If any researcher in the nation files a permit to release genetically altered wild rice, a Minnesota environmental board would have to be notified.  That board would then have to alert several state groups, including tribal leaders and the Legislature.  Laws passed in 2006 designated Minnesota’s Environmental Quality Board as the coordinating agency between state and federal activities regarding genetically engineered organisms.  One bill would call on the board to draw up rules requiring environmental impact statements before a permit could be issued in Minnesota, while a second bill calls on the Department of Natural Resources to complete a wild rice management study.

In Arkansas, the State Plant Board voted unanimously to make permanent its emergency rules that ban the planting of Cheniere rice in 2007 and 2008, and require all rice used for planting in 2007 to be tested for Bayer CropScience’s Liberty Link traits.

In mid-March, the California Rice Commission (CRC) called for a moratorium on experimental plantings of genetically modified rice in the state, saying federal controls meant to keep such varieties from contaminating commercial rice are inadequate.  The vote is advisory, but Tim Johnson, president of the Rice Commission, was cited as saying it is likely to carry weight with the AB 2622 Advisory Board, which controls nearly all test plantings of rice in the state.  The decision by the 40-member group meeting was driven largely by concerns that the contamination of the state's rice supplies with even a tiny amount of genetically engineered material could devastate sales to touchy export markets such as Japan and South Korea.

A test of the CRC’s influence was immediate.  A California state board on April 4 authorized an outdoor test planting of biotech rice but restricted it to a site hundreds of miles from the nearest commercial fields.  An undisclosed biotechnology firm had asked the board for permission to plant its genetically modified rice in Fresno County, but the board ordered that the rice be planted only in Imperial County, and required that the crop be harvested with a dedicated set of farm equipment, among other restrictions.  As much as 40 percent of California's $200 million to $400 million annual rice harvest is sent overseas.  Nearly all state rice grows in the Sacramento Valley, where it is the most widely planted crop.  (USDA Release, 3/22/07, West Central Tribune (MN), 3/16/07, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 3/15/07, & The Sacramento Bee, 3/15/07).