The debt limit has not achieved its original purpose of limiting government spending, which rose from 9.5 percent of gross domestic product in 1917 to 18.2 percent in 2000 to 24.1 percent this year.
Commentators say that even if a deal is reached, it will do little to reduce the original problem of the deficit and the government debt limit, raising the prospect of further political infighting early in the new year.
The Dutch authorities' independent study of 26 samples of rice imported from Asian nations found average levels of seven parts per billion - a thousandth of those found in the original study - and with no samples above the EU limit of 200 parts per billion.