WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/NOR/21 
21 September 2006 
 (06-4484) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES 
 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  NORWAY
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:  The Norwegian Food Safety Authority  
2. Agency responsible:  The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the 
Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(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 of America intended for use as 
food stuff or feeding stuff, comprised by numbers 10 06 2010, 10 06 2090, 10 06 3010 and 10 
06 3020 of the Norwegian customs tariff.  
 Broken rice originating in the United States of America 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 of America  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Regulations requiring 
documentation for imports of certain categories of long-grain rice originating in the USA, in 
order to avoid contamination by  non-approved genetically modified  rice LL 601 (Available in 
Norwegian and English, 1 page)  
6. Description of content:  All imports to Norway of rice falling within the scope of the 
Regulations must be accompanied by an original  analytical report, which documents that the 
products do not contain genetically modi fied rice of the category LL 601.  
 The Norwegian Regulations are identical to the European Commission's Decision 
SANCO/2828/2006 ("On emergency measures regarding the n on authorized genetically 
modified organism LL RICE 601 in ri ce products"), adopted by SCoFCHA on 
25 August 2006.  G/SPS/N/NOR/21 
Page 2  
 
  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 objective of the Regulations is to avoid plac ing on the market in Norway rice which has 
been contaminated by non-approved genetically  modified rice originating in the USA. 
 
The reasons for the Norwegian Regulations are the same as the reasons stated in the preamble of the European Commission's Decision SANCO/2828/2006 of 25 August 2006.  
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reasons for urgent action:   
On 18 August 2006, the authorities of the United  States of America informed the European 
Commission that rice products contaminated with the genetically modified rice "LL RICE 
601", which has not been authorised for placi ng on the market in the Community, had been 
found in rice samples taken on the US market  from commercial long-grain rice from the 
2005 crop.  The US authorities later informed th e European Commission that it is still not 
known to what extent the supply chain has been contaminated and that information on 
possible contamination of exports to Europe cannot be given at present.  In addition, they 
informed the Commission that those products had not been authorised for placing on the 
market in the United States either.  
 Not being a member of the European Union, No rway is not subject to the EU's regulations 
concerning genetically modified organisms.  However, Norway deems it important to adopt 
emergency measures against the current risk of contamination of rice presented by the said 
non-authorised genetically modified rice originating in the US A.  For this reason, Norway has 
adopted emergency measur es identical to those of the Eu ropean Commission's Decision 
SANCO/2828/2006 of 25 August 2006 on a national basis.  
9. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [ X ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:   
10. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  The European 
Commission's Decision SANCO/2828/2006 ("On em ergency measures regarding the non 
authorized genetically modifi ed organism LL RICE 601 in rice products"), adopted by 
SCoFCHA on 25 August 2006.  
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  Immediately  
12. 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:    G/SPS/N/NOR/21 
 Page 3 
 
 
  13. Texts available from:  [    ] National notification authority, [    ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
The 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