Brussels, Sept 5 - Europe's rice industry must do more to stop unauthorised genetically modified (GMO) strains from entering the European Union, the EU executive said on Tuesday, warning importers to keep illegal items off the market.
"The presence of traces of unauthorised GMOs in food in the EU is illegal and it is the responsibility of operators to ensure that they do not place on the market food which does not comply with EU law," European Commission spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich said.
Helfferich was responding to a report issued earlier on Tuesday by environment groups Greenpeace International and Friends of the Earth Europe, saying evidence of a GMO rice strain had been found in Britain, France and Germany.
"Operators are clearly not doing enough," she said. "The Commission has written on Friday to operators ... (saying) that we expect any rice product with illegal content to be kept off the market."
"The Commission will write to the Chinese authorities seeking further information about this case," she said.