EU to change law on genetically-altered foods
RTw 26.11.97 21:53
Copyright 1997 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The following news report may not be republished or
redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written
consent of Reuters Ltd.
By Gillian Handyside
BRUSSELS, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The European Union plans to change
the law on marketing genetically-altered foods in order to
reassure consumers and cut red tape for the biotechnology
industry.
The EU's executive Commission on Wednesday adopted plans to
revise the law because of concern among consumers, ecologists and
politicians about potential risks to health and the environment
from "genetically-modified organisms," or GMOs.
Their worries were exacerbated when the EU granted approval
several months ago for the use and marketing of two varieties of
gene-altered maize and soybean.
"I hope that the biotech industry -- which potentially has
huge growth prospects -- will regard these new rules as a
clarification and as a basis for building long-term confidence
and potential trust with the public," European Environment
Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard said in a statement.
By using GMOs, producers can make crops more resistant to pests
and disease, thereby increasing yields. But opponents say the
possible impact of the genetic changes on human health and the
environment is little tested and poorly understood.
The Commission hopes that by improving the law it will make the
public feel more confident that only safe products are being
released into the environment and the food chain. This, in turn,
should encourage EU governments to speed up authorisation
procedures which the biotech industry complains are too slow.
"The reason why the present procedure has slowed down so
much is that there's simply not enough confidence out there
between industries and member states, between consumers and the
Commission and those outside," a Commission official said.
Under the new rules, national and EU authorities will be obliged
to seek scientific advice before granting GMO products a licence.
Manufacturers will have to monitor the direct and indirect
effects of their products on health and the environment.
Some consultation and monitoring happens already, but it is not
compulsory under existing rules.
Marketing licences will no longer be permanent but will last
seven years, and will not be renewed if there are grounds for
concern.
The new rules also make labelling compulsory on all GMO products.
Under guidelines agreed by the Commission in July, this means all
products known to contain gene-altered elements must be labelled
as such.
If there is uncertainty about the presence of GMOs, the product
must be labelled "may contain GMOs" until it has been
established whether or not a gene-changed element is present.
Manufacturers also have the option of explicitly labelling
GMO-free products to indicate they do not contain GMOs.
GMO products that have already been granted licences under the
existing regime, such as Monsanto Co soybean and Novartis AG
maize, will have to comply with the new rules once they come into
force, which may take some four to five years.
The Commission has also proposed a change to the decision-making
procedure so that authorisations will only go ahead if a majority
of the 15 EU member states supports them.
Under the current rules, an EU country may ask for EU-wide
approval of a GMO product that it has authorised nationally. If
this request is supported by the Commission, the product will be
granted an EU-wide licence even though all the other member
states oppose the move.
(Brussels Newsroom tel +32 2 287 6830, fax +32 2 230 5573,
brussels.newsroom+reuters.com))