WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/NOR/28 
4 August 2008 
 (08-3703) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  NORWAY
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:   Norwegian Food Safety Authority  
2. Agency responsible:  Norwegian Ministry of He alth and Care Services 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Long-grain rice originating in the United States intended  for use as food stuff or 
feeding stuff, comprised by numbers 10 06 1010, 10 06 1090, 10 06 2010, 10 06 2090, 10 06 3010 and 10 06 3020 of the Norwegian customs tari ff, broken rice originated in the USA 
intended for use as food stuff or feeding stuff, comprised by numbers 10 06 4010 and 10 06 
4020 of the Norwegian customs tariff, except for broken rice that is certified free from long-
grain rice 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  United 
States 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Norwegian:  Forskrift om 
endringer i forskrift om krav om analys erapport ved import av langkornet ris med 
opprinnelse i USA for å unngå innblanding av ikke-godkjent genmodifisert ris LL 601 og 
forskrift om betaling av gebyrer fo r særskilte ytelser fra Mattilsynet (2 pages). 
English:  Regulations amending Regula tions 18 September 2006 No. 1068 requiring 
documentation for imports of certai n categories of long-grain rice originating in the USA, in 
order to avoid contamination by non-approv ed genetically modified rice LL 601 and 
Regulations 13 February 2004 No. 406 (2 pages). 
6. Description of content:  Each consignment of rice imported to Norway falling within the 
scope of these Regulations shall be accompanied by:  
(a) a statement from the operator  responsible for the consig nment that the products do 
only contain rice from the 2007 or a subsequent  harvest that was subject to the plan of 
the US Rice Federation aiming to remove ge netically modified rice LL 601 from the 
US export channels;  and 
(b) the original of an analytical report conf irming that the products do not contain the 
genetically modified rice LL 601.  The analytical report shall be issued by a 
laboratory pointed out by the American aut horities and shall be accompanied by an 
official document issued by the GIPSA (G rain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards 
Administration) of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). 
If a consignment is split, a copy of the statem ent and the analytical report shall accompany 
each part of the split consignment.  These copies shall be certified by the competent authority of the member state on whose territory the splitting has taken place. G/SPS/N/NOR/28 
Page 2  
 
   Reference is made to the fact that identical measur es are already adopted  by the European 
Union, cf. the Decision of the European Co mmission of 26 February 2008 (2008/162/EC).  It 
is therefore unlikely that the proposed amendm ents to the Norwegian Regulations will impose 
requirements on the operators of the United states and of the European Union that are not 
already met.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other 
damage from pests   
The reasons for the Norwegian Regulations are th e same as the reasons stated in the preamble 
of the European Commission's Decision 26 February 2008 (2008/162/EC).  
Regulations 18 September 2006 No 1068 requiri ng documentation for imports of certain 
categories of long-grain rice originating in the United States, in order to avoid contamination 
by non approved genetically mo dified rice LL 601 and Regulations 13 February 2004 No. 
406 were adopted to avoid placing on the ma rked in Norway of rice which had been 
contaminated by the non-approved ge netically modified rice LL 601. 
The US Rice federation has adopted a plan ai ming to remove "LL RI CE 601" from the US 
export channels.  This plan includes testing of the seeds before planting, as well as 
documentary and analytical controls at the delivery points of the 2007 harvest.  On 
9 November 2007, USDA submitted a proposal of protocol to the European Commission that 
would ensure that the products falling under the scope of Decision 2006/601 are subject to 
official sampling by the Grain Inspection, Pa ckers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) 
and analysed using the "P35S:BAR" method re ferred to in Decision 2006/601/EC in a 
laboratory participating in successfully in the dedicated proficiency pr ogram administered by 
GIPSA.  The European Commission considered  that the official involvement of GIPSA 
provided appropriate reassuran ces as to the quality of the controls made.  Decision 
2006/601/EC was amended accordingly. 
The proposals for amendments to the Norwegia n Regulation are identical to the amendments 
made by the European Commission Decision 2008/162/EC. 
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and langu age(s) in which these are available:    
The European Commission's Decision 2008/162/EC of 26 February 2008 ("On emergency 
measures regarding the non-authorized geneti cally modified organism  "LL 601" in rice 
products") 
The European Commission's Decision 2006/601/ EC of 5 September 2006 ("On emergency 
measures regarding the non-authorized geneti cally modified organism  "LL 601" in rice 
products") 
The European Commission's Decision 2006/754/ EC of 6 November 2006 ("On emergency 
measures regarding the non-authorized geneti cally modified organism  "LL 601" in rice 
products"  G/SPS/N/NOR/28 
 Page 3 
 
 
   Norwegian Regulations 18 September 2006 No . 1068 requiring documenta tion for imports of 
certain categories of long-grain rice originati ng in the USA, in order to avoid contamination 
by non approved genetically mo dified rice LL 601 and Regulations 13 February 2004 No. 
406 (available in English and Norwegian)  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  15 November 2008 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  1 December 2008 
12. Final date for comments:  1 November 2008 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
Norwegian Food Safety Authority 
Head Office P.O. Box 383 N – 2381 – Brumunddal Norway 
Fax:  +(47) 23 21 68 01 
E-mail:  postmottak@mattilsynet.no 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notificati on authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or 
address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
Norwegian Food Safety Authority 
Head Office P.O. Box 383 N – 2381 – Brumunddal 
Norway 
Fax:  +(47) 23 21 68 01 E-mail:  postmottak@mattilsynet.no