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By Anthony Bayarong,
Correspondent and Ira Karen Apanay, Reporter
SUBIC BAY Freeport: Greenpeace on
Thursday warned the government, specifically the National Food
Authority (NFA), that the shipment of rice being offloaded at the
Naval Supply Depot could be contaminated with genetically modified
organisms (GMO), which is illegal in the country.
Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace
campaigner for South East Asia said the current shipment should be
quarantined and tested using the European Union protocol before it
is distributed to the market.
Ocampo told The Manila Times that
the shipment on board MV Liberty Eagle is part of the food for peace
program.
The 44,000 metric tons of rice
from the US that arrived at the Subic Port has been tested and
certified as free of GMOs, National Food Authority administrator
Jessup P. Navarro announced on Thursday afternoon.
Navarro said the 44,000 MT US
rice that arrived at Subic Port onboard MV Liberty Eagle has been
tested and certified as GMO-free by Eurofins Gene Scan through the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Navarro cited that Eurofins
issued a non-GMO certificate after testing sublots from the US rice
onboard MV Liberty Eagle. The tests were performed with three test
samples of approximately 1,000 kernels each.
“The test results were also
verified by USDA/Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration,” he continued.
“We assure the general
public that the government, through the Department of Agriculture
and NFA, continues to be vigilant and cautious particularly in the
aspect of food safety,” he added.
Navarro further said “the
NFA follows strict procedures including tests undertaken by the
Bureau of Plant Industry to ensure that we distribute through our
accredited retailers and other outlets only rice that is safe for
human consumption.”
In the other shipments of
imported rice, all necessary tests to certify their safety have been
properly undertaken, the NFA reported.
In 2006, Greenpeace revealed the
presence of GMO contaminated rice from US in some supermarkets in
Manila.
“Rice is the most important
food for Filipinos,” explained Ocampo. “Importing rice from the
US exposes Filipinos to the inherent risk of GMOs on human health
and threatens our staple food with genetics contamination.”
The NFA and US testing procedures
require a GMO test sample of 100 grams out of 50,000 tons. That
means about one grain out of every 500 million grains is tested. In
contrast, the EU requires a minimum of 2.5 kilogram sample for
testing, making it easier to detect the presence of GMO grains.
The rice that came on the MV
Liberty Eagle is of a long grain variety that is considered to be
high-end rice.
“According to our sources some
of the shipments have already been bidded out by the NFA and is
about to hit the market soon,” continued Ocampo.
Greenpeace urged NFA to stop the
distribution of this rice from US unless they can prove that it is
free from GMOs.
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