L'UE s'efforce d'identifier les produits à base de riz contaminés par les OGM[en] 

The Commission was informed on 18 August 2006 by US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns that traces of non-authorised genetically modified rice had been detected in samples of commercial long-grain rice from the US. The source of the contamination appears to be an experimental GM rice called LL601, produced by the German-based biotech company Bayer . LL rice is not approved for food or cultivation anywhere in the world except for the United States and Canada.

Following the disclosure, the Commission decided to impose stricter national border controls (see EurActiv, 24 August 2006) to make sure that unauthorised GMO rice be kept off European markets. 

On 5 September 2006, NGOs Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace found traces of either the Cry1Ac protein or a fusion Cry1Ab/Cry1Ac protein in rice sticks and rice vermicelli of five different brands sold in the three countries (see EurActiv, 6 September 2006).

In a hearing on 11 September 2006, the Commission Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health  heard a presentation by the European Federation of Rice Millers, which represents about 90% of the rice trade in the EU. The trade association reported that out of 162 samples of rice tested by its members so far, 33 had been tested positive for the LL601 variant. 

Rice samples taken from the market and tested in Sweden and France have also been tested positive for LL601. The two countries are so far the only to use two newly developed methods for LL601 testing, which produce much more accurate results. It is expected that once the new method is applied in other member states, which will take another one to two weeks, more samples will test positive for LL601. 

20,000 tons of imported rice from the US are currently blocked in the port of Rotterdam, after three out of 23 barges have been tested positive for LL601. The barges tested positive will either be sent back to the US or destroyed. 

On 11 September, the Commission reminded the industry "of their legal obligation to inform Member State authorities when a consignment on their markets is found to contain an unauthorised GMO". At the same time, the Commission urged Member States "to intensify testing of products on the market as soon as possible and to provide an extensive report back on the results".