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VICTORY!
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) rejects emergency protocol
for Ventria BioScience’s proposed commercial pharmaceutical rice production in
California, USDA denies permit! Decision to go ahead under normal regulatory
process.
On
March 29th, the California Rice Commission (CRC) gave their approval for the
planting and milling of two genetically engineered drug-producing rice varieties
spliced with synthetic human genes. This would be the first commercial
pharmaceutical food crop in the world. The CRC recommended that CDFA treat the pharm rice approval
under emergency decision-making guidelines, giving the CDFA only 10 days to
approve or reject the protocol and NO public comment period.
This
"pharm" rice is produced by Ventria Biosciences, a Sacramento-based
company. Ventria's rice has been genetically engineered by inserting human
genes, and it produces drugs for infant formula and as antibiotic substitutes in
poultry feed.
Farmers
and consumers across the country were outraged at the process, demanding they
allow public comment, all necessary USDA permits, and that the decision not be
rushed through as an emergency approval, as the only emergency was that Ventria
wanted to plant this spring.
As quoted in a Contra-Costa Times
article (By Judy Silber --
CONTRA COSTA TIMES --
April 10, 2004): “Responding to objections made in thousands of phone
calls, e-mails, faxes and letters, the Secretary of the California Department of
Food and Agriculture refused to authorize the planting of two varieties of rice
genetically engineered to contain human proteins.”
On
April 9th, CDFA denied the emergency request and has sent the pharm
rice protocol back to the Rice Commission for further research and review. In
their letter, CDFA stated 2 reasons for denial:
First,
an emergency approval would have bypassed the usual public review process. But
it is clear that the public wanted an opportunity to comment, the letter stated.
Second, the Rice Commission needed to
verify that Ventria held all necessary federal permits. As it turns out, Ventria
has not yet received permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to
plant in California this year. The company had originally applied to plant 120
acres in California. The USDA recently denied Ventria’s application. The
agency initially denied Ventria's application to grow its crops in this state,
citing concerns about the potential for mix-ups between the biotech
pharmaceutical rice and commercial varieties. Ventria is asking to plant in 10
Southern California counties away from the main rice-growing region in hopes of
allaying these concerns, but the protocol allows for the planting of research
crops anywhere in the state and the transportation of milled pharmaceutical rice
from the restricted growing area in Southern California to any other region of
California, leaving lots of room for contamination.
These
rice varieties have not yet received federal approval for marketing as drugs,
and have not been approved for human or animal consumption by the Food and Drug
Administration. The federal government has not evaluated their safety for humans
or the environment, and has set a zero tolerance for pharmaceutical
contamination of food crops.
Ventria’s application to plant its
pharm rice in California has NOT been denied, only the emergency approval was
denied. Now the planting protocol will go back to the Rice Commission for a new
recommendation under the normal approval process, which can take up to a year
and will include a public comment period. Under this, Ventria will not be able
to plant the commercial crop this year.
According to the Contra Costa Times
article, Ventria may abandon its attempt to grow in California altogether,
stating “We don't want to lose
another year," said Ventria Chief Executive Officer Scott Deeter, “The
company will instead consider growing the rice in other states or countries
where the regulatory process is less cumbersome.”
It
is certainly not over, but we won the first round. Congratulations! Stay tuned
for more updates and action alerts on this issue.
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