Japan Bars U.S. Long-Grain Rice
Japan has suspended imports of U.S. long-grain rice after a test found trace amounts of a genetically modified strain not approved for human consumption, a news report said Sunday.
Japan’s Health Ministry imposed the suspension Saturday after being informed by U.S. officials that trace amounts of the unapproved strain had been discovered in commercially available long-grain rice, the newspaper Asahi Shimbun said.
The rice was detected by Bayer CropScience. The German company then notified U.S. officials.
The strain is not approved for sale in the U.S., but two other strains of rice with the same genetically engineered protein are.
The ministry will instruct companies not to process or sell any long-grain rice they may have already imported, and has asked the U.S. government to enact strict controls, the Asahi Shimbun said.
The ministry also said no one this year had notified it of plans to import U.S. long-grain rice, the newspaper said. It said the suspension did not affect short- and medium-grain rice imports from the U.S.
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