Reports that the Thai Rice Exporters’ Association (TREA) has received a request from the EU millers’ association regarding GM segregation were confirmed in a Reuters story on 13 October. “I have heard that the EU Rice Millers’ Association has discussed the issue of GM rice with the U.S. Rice Millers Association, a US rice industry insider told edie. But “because the first GM rice appears to be two years from market at the earliest, specifics in dealing with the crop once harvested are still scanty”.
The USA Rice Federation has created a technology task force that will present findings on biotechnology at the USA Rice Outlook Conference in early December.
According to Reuters, the letter from the Union of European Community Rice Millers’ Association to TREA stated that “consumers in Europe are unconvinced about the benefit of genetically modified food either to themselves or to the environment”.
The Asia International Rice Conference ’99 will take place at the end of October in the Philippines. Representatives from Monsanto and USA Cargill International are listed among the conference speakers.