The California Rice Commission (CRC) has called for a moratorium on field tests of genetically modified (GM) rice within the U.S. state of California. Frank Rehermann, chair of the CRC board, says: "Based on the events of the last few months, it is clear that the federal regulatory process is not working for rice. It is imperative that those systems are evaluated and approved." Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued "emergency action notifications" preventing the planting and distribution of a long-grain rice seed from BASF because it may contain GM material not yet approved for commercialization. And last year, traces of Bayer's then-unapproved GM "Liberty Link" rice were found in some U.S. commercial supplies of long-grain rice. [According to its website, the CRC is a California state statuary organization that operates under the overview of the California Secretary of Agriculture. By statute, the commission represents the entire California rice industry, including all 2,500 rice farmers and handlers who farm and process rice produced on approximately 500,000 acres annually.

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