European Parliament Demands Commission Clarify GMO Labeling
STRASBOURG, France, June 12 (Reuter) - The European Parliament on Thursday demanded immediate action to clear up confusion about the labelling of novel foods and insisted new labelling rules should cover gene altered products.
Euro-MPs complained that new European Union laws on labelling novel foodstuffs, which came into force on May 15, left too much scope for interpretation, so products that had to be labelled in one EU country might not be indicated in another.
The confusion created legal uncertainty for industry and national licensing authorities, and left consumers in the dark about what they were eating, the EU assembly said in a resolution.
The resolution, which is non-binding, said the European Commission should issue immediate clarifications of the labelling rules and insisted that the definition of novel foods explicitly include genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Last year the Commission approved the sale in the EU of gene-modified soybeans developed by Monsanto and a gene altered maize strain developed by Ciba Geigy without requiring the products to be specifically labelled.
Last month Green Euro-MPs complained that they had asked the Commission for precise interpretations of the new labelling regulation but with only two days to go before the rules came into force, the EU executive had been unable to give them clear answers.
Green Euro-MPs have consistently attacked the novel foods regulation as limited in scope, impractical and too lax on the labelling of genetically modified organisms.
In April the EU's Standing Committee on Foodstuffs, composed of experts from the 15 member states, backed a proposal to extend the labelling rules for novel foods to cover GMOs but delayed a final decision until later this month.
Ciba Geigy maize and Monsanto soybeans would both be affected.
10:29 06-12-97