Illegal genetically modified rice has been found in Guangzhou, the largest city in Southern China, raising fears that the untested GM rice is spreading out of control and has entered the food chain in major Chinese cities.
The evidence was revealed weeks after Greenpeace exposed that illegal GM rice had been growing in Hubei Province.
China is one of the largest rice producers in the world, and the GM rice issue has aroused wide concern. Yunfeng interviewed a Greenpeace China campaigner and a biosafety expert to give you more insight into the issue.
In April, a Greenpeace research team discovered unapproved GM rice being sold and grown illegally in Hubei province, in central China. An international laboratory in Germany Genescan found that most of the samples collected in Hubei tested positive as GM Bt rice ¨C which is genetically engineered to produce an inbuilt pesticide.
Greenpeace campaigner Sze Pang Cheung said GM insect resistant Bt rice has not been approved for cultivation anywhere in the world. There is neither publicly available environmental assessment nor human food safety assessment available for any GM Bt rice.
Xue Dayuan is a biosafety researcher with the State Environmental Protection Administration's Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences. He shares Greenpeace' concern.
"Regarding the health issue, no experiments are currently being made on human subjects. Now more tests are done on mice. GM food is fed to them for one to three months. There's still no long term experiments conducted on GM food's influence on human body."
Greenpeace researchers have now found samples from rice wholesalers in Guangzhou, and two samples tested positive as GM rice. Here is Greenpeace assistant Campaigner Ma Tianjie.
"We collected..
The environmental group estimates that up to 29 tons of GM rice seeds have been sold in Hubei advertised as a product of a local agriculture university. If no recall action is taken, the seeds could produce up to 14,500 tons of GM rice when harvested. The situation is getting worse as GM rice has been sold in other provinces.
" We interviewed¡"
Xue Dayuan, a biosafety researcher, says despite the human health concerns, environmental issues are also something that should be given serious thought. He says GM rice may contaminate local rice breeds. The professor said preventative measures must be taken.
"Under the current situation that GM technology safety is still under dispute. We should take preventative measures as the UN biosafety protocol stipulates."
Professor Xue Dayuan admitted that China is one of the largest rice producers in the world, and the country needs gene technology to guarantee food safety for its 1.3 billion people. But conditions must be ripe when GM technology is applied.
"Once a safety certificate, evaluation and management system are established, we can begin thinking of commercializing GM rice production."
Concerns over GM rice are growing in China. An opinion poll released by Greenpeace in March, showed that 3 out of 4 Chinese shoppers in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai would choose non-GM rice over GM products.
Concerns among GM rice importers are also raising as several countries, including Japan, South Korea and the EU Commission voice their opinion to the Chinese government regarding the possible contamination of Chinese rice exports following the discovery of GM rice in markets in Hubei province.
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