EU
LEGISLATION AND GMO
MORATORIUM
In the EU, 18 different GMOs have been allowed to be released into
the environment since 1990 (directive 90/220/EEC), but at present
only two types of transgenic crops are allowed in food: a corn and
a soya variety.
In effect, transgenic corn is only cultivated in a few EU countries
and this on a small scale. In most cases, transgenic crops are only
cultivated on isolated test fields.
In 1997, new legislation on Novel Foods came into force in the EU.
Novel Foods are foodstuffs to which something new is added. GMOs
and foodstuffs derived from GMOs, such as pasta, ketchup, crisps
made of GM corn... and which have since come on the market, are
by definition Novel Foods and are therefore governed by this legislation.
Due to pressure from consumer groups in some EU countries, a de
facto moratorium has been in place in the EU since 1998. Each new
permission for GMOs was blocked until the European Commission brought
out legislation relating to traceability and labelling of products
containing GMOs and GMO derived products. The guiding principle
is that the consumer must at all times have full knowledge of the
facts and be able to choose between foodstuffs, which have been
produced either with or without transgenic ingredients.
Directive 2001/18, which comes into force on 17 October 2002, reinforces
the legislation that has existed since 1990 with regard to risk
assessment and decision-making concerning the permission to use
GMO seed.
For example, it regulates the release of or the deliberate introduction
of GMOs into the environment. Before a GMO can be allowed onto the
market, it has to go through a step-by-step process of approvals.
Each stage of the process requires a risk assessment file relating
to the health of human beings and the environment.
The EU legislation also relates to the compulsory supply of information
and comprises general regulations concerning labelling and traceability.
Since 1997, it has become compulsory to divulge the presence of
GMOs. The Novel Food regulation requires that foodstuffs and ingredients
containing GMOs must be labelled as such. Since April 2000, this
labelling only became compulsory if there was a content of more
than 1% GMOs per ingredient. This takes into account the impossibility
to fully guarantee the total absence of GMO's even in the genetic
material of conventional foodstuffs. A new proposal was submitted
to reduce this percentage to 0.5%.
Until now, it has only been necessary to label products that still
contained the DNA or protein of the GMO. A new law proposal has
been submitted to also label the GMO derivatives. These may be products
that may not necessarily contain DNA, as a result of production
or transformation processes, such as for example soya oil.
For more information, please refer to the
European Union website:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/gmo/gmo_index_en.html |
