Europe to Label Transgenic Animal Feed and Foods

BRUSSELS, Belgium, November 28, 2002 (ENS) - After long and difficult negotiations European food and agriculture ministers have reached a political agreement on the proposal for a regulation on food and feed containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

President of the Council, Mariann Fischer Boel, Danish minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, said, "With the political agreement on the proposal we have taken an important step towards offering consumers a real choice when it comes to GMOs. This is an important victory for the European consumers."

British cow at feeding time (Photo courtesy Freefoto)

Labeling will be required for food and feed produced on the basis of genetically modified material, even if GMOs cannot be identified in the final product, for example in soy bean oil. The labeling requirement will not apply for the "adventitious presence" of GMOs below a 0.9 percent threshold.

In a transition period, a common threshold of 0.5 percent will be set for the adventitious presence of non-authorised GMOs that have a positive scientific approval.

A decentralized authorization procedure is introduced for new GMOs which offers consumers the same guarantees that the centralized procedure proposed by the European Commission.

Resistance to genetically modified foods and feed among European consumers is much stronger than it is among American consumers, although the United States supplies most of the genetically modified grains and legumes such as soy beans to world markets.

The British Medical Association, which represents about 80 percent of practicing British doctors, said this month, "There has not yet been a robust and thorough search into the potentially harmful effects of GM foodstuffs on human health. On the basis of the precautionary principle, farm-scale trials should not be allowed to continue."

Genetically modified corn
(Photo courtesy Monsanto)

Any product in the United States containing corn, such as corn meal, corn syrup, corn oil, or soy such as soybean oil, soy protein, and soy lecithin, canola or cottonseed oil almost certainly contains genetically modified ingredients unless it is certified organic.

A final adoption of the GMO proposals requires a co-decision between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. The Council will now send its Common Position for new consideration by the European Parliament.

The agriculture ministers also agreed on common guidelines for the monitoring and eradication of salmonella and other disease producing bacteria throughout the European Union, and on hygiene regulations preventing the spread of contagious livestock diseases.