EU: All genetically modified food will have to be clearly labelled, and EU countries will be allowed to set their own rules to prevent GM crops from contaminating other plants, according to legislation approved yesterday by the European Parliament.
The legislation, which is expected to come into force in September, will oblige the food industry to trace all food ingredients, including meat and animal feed, from the earliest stage of production.
Yesterday's decision will end a de facto ban on GM food throughout much of the EU. This has prompted the US to lodge a formal complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
However, the US, which claims that lack of access to the EU for GM foods costs American producers some €300 million each year, has dismissed the new rules as unworkable.
The Health, Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, welcomed the European Parliament's decision as a valuable move for consumers.
"This is a huge step forward in giving choice to citizens. All foods whether pre-packaged or not will have to be labelled."
Environmentalist groups also welcomed the legislation.
Mr Eric Gall, a GM adviser for Greenpeace, said it would give the EU the world's strictest and most comprehensive rules on the labelling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
"This vote is a slap in the face of the US administration which thought that by bullying, Europe, and eventually others, would swallow its GMO policy."
The new rules allow for only 0.9 per cent of accidental or technically-unavoidable mixing of GM with non-GM food imports.
All food with more than 0.9 per cent GM content must be clearly labelled: "This product is produced from GMOs".
Until now, the EU has allowed the import of approved strains of GM maize and soya beans for use in food.
However no experimental or commercial growth of any new GM crops has been allowed since October 1998, and since then many European governments have banned already-approved GM crops.
No GM crop trials have been carried out in Ireland since 2000, but the Government is considering around 20 applications for trials from biotech companies.
The European Parliament inserted a clause into yesterday's legislation saying that EU member-states "may take appropriate measures to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs in other products" to ensure GM organisms and non-GM crops can coexist.
The European Commission is expected to propose measures in the coming weeks such as requiring minimum distances between GM and conventional or organic crops.
Environmentalist campaigners hope the new legislation will allow individual countries to impose tough measures of their own, such as designating large GM-free zones where the cultivation of GM crops would be forbidden.
