Europeans pass GE labelling laws, US unimpressed

11.45am

BRUSSELS - The European Parliament passed laws today to force labelling of all genetically modified food in a move that could lead the EU to lift an unofficial ban on GE crops but which may not be enough to halt a US trade suit.

The regulations will require the food industry to segregate GE from conventional crops and put strict limits on the accidental mixing of GE into traditional food imports.

Delighted anti-GE campaigners said the new rules would keep the EU closed to GE food, as consumers would chose not to buy it.

"This new legislation paves the way for a GMO-free Europe," Geert Ritsema of green group Friends of the Earth, said.

The United States, which is taking the EU to the World Trade Organisation over the its five-year de facto ban on new GE varieties, slammed the regulations as "difficult and expensive for suppliers and confusing for consumers".

"We have made clear to the EU our concerns about the workability of these regulations and their impact on trade," a US official said, without commenting directly on what impact it would have on the WTO case.

US farmers say the closed EU market costs them US$300 million ($511.77 million) a year in lost exports, mostly maize. GE crops are not labelled in the United States where the public has not opposed crops engineered for pest resistance and increased yields.

The EU has refused to approve any new GE crops for cultivation or use in food in the 15-country bloc since 1998 when European consumer fears about food safety were at their height following the mad cow disease scandal.

A group of GE-sceptical countries, led by France said the moratorium would remain until the EU had put in place a raft of new rules on safety testing, labelling and tracing GE organisms "from farm to fork" were in place.

The new rules allow no more than 0.9 per cent accidental mixing of GE in non-GE shipments to the EU. They also let EU states impose "appropriate measures" to ensure GE crops planted in the bloc do not cross-pollinate with conventional strains.

Industry believes this will only lead to relatively minor additional national rules such as requiring minimum distances between GE and organic crops, but campaigners say it could allow GE-sceptic states like Austria to create large "GE-free" zones.

The laws could be the final piece in a regulatory jigsaw which will lead those states to start granting permits again for GE crops to be imported or grown in the EU, a procedure which has been on hold since 1998.

Groups such as Friends of the Earth fear crops genetically altered to fend off pests could cross-breed with wild relatives and create super-weeds that cannot be controlled.

They want binding EU-wide rules on GE farming methods to ensure there is no cross-pollenation and a legal regime that would make farmers or biotech seed makers financially liable for any future damage they cause to nature.

Parliament's vote needs the formal approval of European Union member governments, which diplomats said was likely to come this month.

The legislation would probably come into force in September and firms would have a six-month breathing space before having to apply the new rules.

Green MP Sue Kedgley today called on the New Zealand Government to follow the example set by the EU and introduce comprehensive labelling laws for GE food and animal stockfeed.

Ms Kedgley said the Green Parties of both New Zealand and Australia had developed private members bills calling on their respective governments to introduce EU-type labelling laws for all foods. This would be done through the trans-Tasman food standards setting body, Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

"Food Safety Minister Annette King justifies our present weak, GE labelling regime by arguing that New Zealand needs to be aligned with EU standards for GE food.

"Now that the EU has strengthened its provisions so that they apply to all GE ingredients and animal stockfeed in all food, we need to bring our rules into line with the new EU laws," Ms Kedgley said.

Ms Kedgley said the present labelling laws were a joke.

"Our labelling laws are misleading and deceptive as most consumers assume that unlabelled food does not contain any material derived from GE technology, when in fact thousands of products do contain GE ingredients because of the loopholes in the rules.

"The Europeans have listened to their consumers, who have repeatedly told them that they don't want to eat GE food. It's time for the New Zealand Government to listen to the voices of consumers who have said the same thing."

- REUTERS