GMOs: Compromise deal reached on labelling of genetically modified food and animal feed, December 2002

A compromise deal on the labelling of genetically modified food or animal feed was agreed by agriculture ministers from across the EU Member States at a meeting of the Agriculture Council in Brussels on 28 November 2002. The proposal on the labelling and traceability of GMOs aims to provide better information for European consumers but still requires endorsement at the Environment Council on 9 December 2002 and support from the European Parliament before it can be adopted.

The agreement, said by Greenpeace to 'offer the world's strictest and most comprehensive regulations for labelling of GM food and feed', lays out three key measures to be introduced across the European Union in 2003. They are:

• A threshold of 0.9% GM presence will be introduced so that all products, be they food or GMO based feed, that contain GM ingredients above this level must be labelled and the marketing of GM feed will be subject to prior approval.

• The accidental presence of GM substances will be limited to 0.5% for a three-year transition period.

• The introduction of a decentralised authorisation procedure to offer further safety guarantees for consumers.

The compromise deal was reached by qualified majority voting despite opposition from three Member States. The United Kingdom opposed the proposal because it wanted higher thresholds whilst Austria and Luxembourg voted against it because they argued that the rules were not strict enough. The agreement has also met with mixed reactions from environmental organisations. Greenpeace welcomed the proposal saying:

'This result shows that the consumers, when asserting their rights, can win against the most powerful corporate lobbies. The most important practical effect of this new regulation will be that no GMOs can enter the European market unlabelled'.

But Lorenzo Consoli, Greenpeace's EU policy advisor on genetic engineering also added a note of caution saying that the compromise deal failed to introduce a safeguard clause such as that in current EU legislation on GMOs which would allow Member States to enact national bans of approved GM products, based on the precautionary principle, if they were considered to pose a risk to health or the environment. Greenpeace also announced its regret that the Danish proposals aimed at imposing labelling of animal products produced with GM feed, such as meat, milk and eggs had been rejected and called on producers and retailers to provide this information voluntarily through the appropriate labelling on the final product.

In a letter to EU environment ministers ahead of their Council meeting in December, the European Environmental Bureau also stated that the proposal would only be acceptable if it was extended to products derived from animals fed on GM feed and if the threshold requiring products to be labelled did not exceed 0.5%

This is the figure that the European Parliament called for at its first reading on 3 July 2002. Even if the environment ministers support the agriculture ministers' deal MEPs may not be prepared to give up on the strict thresholds they have campaigned for making it unlikely that the EU moratorium on new GM products will be lifted before mid 2003.

Links:
Council of the European Union:
	28.11.02:	Press Release: Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Brussels, 28 November 2002
European Commission:
	29.11.02:	Commissioner David Byrne welcomes political agreement of Council on further labelling requirements for GMOs in food and feed [IP/02/1770]
	DG Agriculture: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
European Environmental Bureau:
	Homepage
	29.11.02:	Letter to the Ministers for the Environment of the EU Member States
Greenpeace International:
	Homepage
	28.11.02:	EU Council agrees the World's Strictest Legislation on Labelling of Genetically Modified Food and Feed
European Sources Online: Financial Times:
	01.12.02:	Commission seeks consensus on GM labels
	28.11.02:	EU seeks pact on GMO labelling rules
European Sources Online: In Focus
	Genetically modified organisms: Replacement of Directive 90/220, and new proposals on the traceability and labelling of food containing GMOs
	GMOs: EU agriculture ministers fail to reach an agreement on GM food and feed, October 2002
	European Parliament votes on GMOs, July 2002
European Sources Online: Topic Guides
	Food safety in the European Union

Helen Bower
Compiled: Monday, 2 December 2002

A compromise deal on the labelling of genetically modified food or animal feed was agreed by agriculture ministers from across the EU Member States at a meeting of the Agriculture Council in Brussels on 28 November 2002.