EU: Genetically Modified Crops

The Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU has decided voluntarily to label foods containing genetically modified soyabeans or maize, in the absence of an agreement between EU Member States to introduce common labelling rules. The Confederation said it was alarmed at the failure of the EU to agree common rules and would be instructing manufacturers to meet consumer demands for clear and precise information. New, voluntarily-adopted labels are likely to say a food product has been “modified by gene technology” or “contains GM soya”. Similar labelling is already in use in the Netherlands since April 1997 and has now started in the UK; it will also soon begin in Belgium, France, and Germany. MS are due this month to consider EC proposals to introduce labels for food containing modified DNA or protein, having failed to agree the plans in December 1997. EuroCoop, the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives, has strongly criticised the European Commission’s draft regulation on the labelling of foods made from genetically modified soya beans or maize, and condemned its lack of response to consumers’ demands for complete and clear information.