All food and animal feed derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will have to be labelled under new rules proposed yesterday by the European Commission. Makers of processed foods will have to keep records tracing any GMOs back to the original farm.
The new rules are aimed at easing tension with the US over the EU's halting of approval for genetically modified foods three years ago.
The Food Safety Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, said the rules would provide the information consumers needed to make a free choice about what to eat.
"These laws will ensure that the regulatory framework in the EU is up to the high standard consumers expect. After that it is for consumers to decide if they want to buy food produced from a GMO. The proposed labelling regime will allow consumers to make that choice.
"Consumers can be assured that any GMOs in their food have been assessed strictly for their safety. Equally important to me is that for the first time ever we will have clear rules on GM-feed in place in Europe, which is a major contribution to provide trustworthy information to farmers on the feed they buy," he said.
US growers of GM crops complain that the traceability system is unworkable and will place an extra financial burden on producers.
Environmental groups are unhappy that the new rules allow for up to 1 per cent of food and feed to be made up of "accidental traces" of GMOs. Mr Byrne said that in exempting such traces, the Commission was simply acknowledging the reality that it was impossible to avoid a low level of contamination.
However, Ms Gill Lacroix, a spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth, described the tolerance of any GMO traces as a licence to pollute. "All companies have to do now is to say that the GMO contamination they created was `accidental' and they get away with it," she said.
Under the new rules, authorisation for the use of GMOs would be for a 10-year period, with the scientific risk assessment to be carried out by the European Food Authority, which is due to be established at the start of next year.
The Commission's proposal must be approved by the European Parliament and the 15 member-states.
