The Thai government has adhered to its non-GE rice policy.
"We've got more orders from Europe to replace those which would otherwise have gone to the US," said Wanlop Pitchyapongsa of Capital Rice, a major exporter.
The scandal shows that Thailand's strength lies in non-GE rice, which should be maintained as the chief selling point, he said.
Thanakorn Jitratangbunya of Chia Meng Group, another big player, said the risk of experimenting with GE rice was high and it should not be allowed here.
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OPPOSITION TO GE CROPS
Thais reap windfall
Kamol Sukin
The Nation, October 22 2006
http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/10/22/headlines/headlines_30016822.php
Kingdom lands more export orders as EU and some Asian countries ban GE rice from US
The global rice trade was stunned last July when US shipments bound for the European Union were found to contain genetically engineered rice.
Thailand, as the world's leading rice-exporter, has reaped a windfall as orders for non-GE rice have kept rising in past months.
Sixteen European countries and Japan have effectively banned all imports of GE rice.
The Thai government has adhered to its non-GE rice policy.
Morrakot Tanticharoen, director of the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Biotec), told The Nation recently that GE rice was not an option today, though it might be in the distant future.
Science and Technology Minister Yongyuth Yuthavong said rice was a very big and sensitive issue.
"Policywise we ought to move very carefully. Yet, we shouldn't close all doors to scientific development," he said. According to environmental group Greenpeace, Ebro Puleva, Europe's largest food-processing company, has suspended rice imports from the US following the July GE rice scandal.
The US Agriculture Department has announced that rice shipments of one exporting company, Riceland Food Inc, were found to have carried a GE rice strain called Liberty Link (LL) 601.
The strain should have been restricted to laboratories and trial fields, according to the department. LL 601 is said to have been developed by Bayer Crop Science, a unit of German chemical giant Bayer. It is designed to resist some agricultural chemicals but has not yet been approved for commercial planting or consumption.
According to Greenpeace International, GE rice traces were originally discovered last January involving several of Riceland's suppliers.
Afterwards, Riceland traced back the sources of the rice to four US states, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana and Texas.
At least four US farmers have sued Bayer for the infiltration of GE rice, demanding billions of dollars in damages. The case is pending in court.
Besides Europe and Japan, other US rice markets such as the Philippines have imposed a ban on GE rice.
Korea has also tightened its import rules by requiring a non-GE certificate, especially for rice from the US. The moves overseas against GE rice have proved a boon for Thai exporters - at least for now.
"We've got more orders from Europe to replace those which would otherwise have gone to the US," said Wanlop Pitchyapongsa of Capital Rice, a major exporter.
"Replacement is obvious, especially for long-grain rice, which is normally supplied by the US. Usually we export only premium jasmine rice to the EU," he said.
The scandal shows that Thailand's strength lies in non-GE rice, which should be maintained as the chief selling point, he said.
Thanakorn Jitratangbunya of Chia Meng Group, another big player, said the risk of experimenting with GE rice was high and it should not be allowed here.
Even though the US regulations are very strict, there was still a leak and contamination from the lab to the farm, he said.
Wallop said the damage from GE crops was irreversible and it was difficult to clean up if there was GE contamination.
Capital Rice exports around one million tonnes of non-GE rice worth Bt12 billion annually while Chia Meng, the country's biggest fragrant-rice exporter, ships out 400,000 tonnes per year worth Bt7 billion.
The country ships a total 7.5 million tonnes worth around Bt80 billion a year.
Both Wanlop and Thanakorn said the government should promote Thailand as a 100-per-cent non-GE rice-exporter.
Yongyuth said the country had no GE-rice research and development facilities.
Biotec director Morrakot said the only biotechnological research on rice going on here was related to the development of DNA markers, which are part of the rice genome research series, aimed at developing better rice strains through genetic improvement, not by inserting non-rice genes.
The work has yielded the high-iron nutrient khao hom nil strain and also flood-resistant strains in laboratory and field trials.
These strains will be offered to farmers soon, he said.
"Although we've closed the door to GE rice development, we should still keep a window open in the laboratory so that we don't miss the next biotechnology train. Field trials should be allowed case by case, particularly for papaya and tomato research," he said.
Sairung Thongplon of the Confederation of Consumer Organisations of Thailand said the government should review biosafety legislation being drafted by the Agriculture Ministry because it would promote the biotech business rather than protect the country's rich biological diversity.
"This bill is a legacy of the past government," she said, adding that citizens'-rights advocates and other non-governmental groups were preparing a parallel bill focusing on biodiversity to replace the biosafety bill.
Anti-GE campaigner Patwajee Srisuwan of Greenpeace Southeast Asia said GE rice had also been detected in food products sold in the UK, France and Germany, as these items contained ingredients made from GE rice exported by China.
These products were removed from the shelves early this year.
"GE rice has become a major issue as consumers worldwide have sent a strong 'No' message," she said.
According to Greenpeace, GE rice is understood to be supported by the US, China and Iran, but it remains illegal for consumption and commercial plantation due to the safety issue.
In China, GE rice strains developed by Huazhong University were found to have reached farmers, with the rice identified in a vast area of Hubei province and some southern cities.
The GE rice was found contaminating Heinz baby cereal food in March.
According to a Greenpeace survey conducted this year, 57 per cent of Chinese respondents said they would avoid eating GE rice, up from last year's figure of only 40 per cent.
Iran, the world's largest rice market, is experimenting with GE rice containing antibiotic-resistant genes in the field with plans to distribute seeds to farmers soon, amid opposition from an international anti-GE alliance.