Update on emergency measures on Chinese rice products

Thursday 27 March 2008

The Agency has written to food businesses and local authorities to alert them to new testing and analysis requirements for imports of rice products from China.

This is in the wake of a European Commission committee decision last month to put special requirements on these rice products to make sure they do not contain an unauthorised genetically modified (GM) rice known as ‘Bt63’. The measures come into force on 15 April.

The Agency is not aware of any health implications for consumers who eat rice products containing 'Bt63'. Bt63 is an unauthorised genetically modified organism and so should not be on the market.