Brussels - European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström welcomed yesterday's agreement on a common position for a Regulation on traceability and labelling of GMOs and traceability of food and feed products produced from GMOs. Commissioner Wallström said : "The people of Europe want to be fully informed about the use of GMOs in food, feed and agricultural production. It is our responsibility as policy makers to show strong political leadership and do what is necessary to ensure a high level of environmental protection as well as safety and consumer choice. This is essential if Europe is to reap the potential benefits of GMOs and biotechnology."
The Commissioner added : "If we are to make acceptance of GMO products possible in the European Union then we must restore public and market confidence. In order to do so, we must provide consumers with an effective choice between GMO and non-GMO products. Labelling and traceability of GMO products will enable them to choose".
Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs was fully applicable on 17 October 2002. The Directive provides the foundation for approval of new GMOs under a more stringent, efficient and transparent authorisation procedure and requires Member States to ensure labelling and traceability.
Agreement today means that these national measures will be replaced by common measures throughout the EU under this proposal when it takes effect.
The text agreed on last night includes that:
Products containing GMOs that are to be made available to consumers will always have to be labelled as such.
When operators, throughout the production and distribution chains, are handling products that contain GMOs they will have to provide this information to the next operator in the chain providing for traceability.
Operators will have to list the codes for individual GMOs, in accompanying documentation, that have been used to constitute the original raw material for products intended for food, feed and processing.
The accidental presence of minute traces of GMOs in products for food, feed and processing is addressed using coherent and consistent thresholds.
A clause to ensure that the Regulation meets its objectives and is operational and, enforceable.
source: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/02/1836|0|RAPID&lg=EN; 10dec02
Late yesterday European Union environment ministers agreed on traceability rules for food and livestock from biotech organisms, according to wire reports.
Under the rules, shippers are to provide a list of all genetically modified organisms present in a food at its point of departure. If a grain shipment from the U.S. to Europe unloads some cargo on its way to a final destination the original list is to remain unchanged.
While some wanted stricter rules (a new list with each port of call), they were out-voted by other members on the panel. The draft European law now heads for the European Parliament for approval.
Ag ministers agreed early last week to a standard stating if GMO content tops 0.9% in a product, that the product's label has to declare the biotech content.
This is another step along the road to lifting the four-year-old moratorium on authorizing sales of new biotech crops into the EU.
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