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3 june 2002
friends of the earth europe
press briefing
WILL GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD BE
LABELLED IN THE EU?
Concerns: Vote in the EP’s Environment
Committee on labelling and the traceability
of GMO-food and animal feed, 4 June, 2002
INTRODUCTION
Friends of the Earth wants to draw your
attention to an important meeting of the
European Parliament’s (EP) Committee on the
Environment, Public Health and Consumer
Policy. On 4 June this Committee will vote
upon two proposals by the European Commission
concerning the authorisation and labelling of
genetically modified food and animal feed
(1). To the Commission’s proposals more than
532 amendments have been tabled, indicating
that genetically modified organisms (GMO’s)
in food and feed
are still a hotly debated and controversial
issue.
Since the Environment Committee will vote
upon all 532 amendments it is expected that
the vote will take more than two hours. After
tomorrows vote the plenary of the European
Parliament will vote again on (amendments to)
the same proposals. This vote is expected in
the beginning of July. Hence, tomorrow’s vote
is not the final one, but will nevertheless
be of importance because it will give an
indication of the probable outcome of the
parliamentary decision-making process on
GM-food and feed labelling.
WHAT IS AT STAKE?
The key-element in both proposals of the
European Commission is a different approach
to the labelling of food and feed derived
from genetically modified organisms. Under
the current legislation (Novel Food
Regulation 258/97) only food-products in
which genetically modified DNA or protein can
be detected are subject to a labelling
obligation. Consequently, many products
derived from GMO’s, such as sugar,
vegetable-oils and corn flour do not have to
be labelled.
The Commission now proposes to change this
situation and bring the labelling provisions
for GM-food more in accordance with the
general principles laid down in European food
safety law. The most important of these
principle is the traceability principle,
which can be found in Regulation 178/2002/EC.
If adopted , the Commission’s proposals will
ensure traceability of GMO’s and of food and
feed produced therefrom. It
would mean that operators throughout the
food-chain (eg farmers, transporters,
processors, etc.) must inform the next
operator that the product is produced from
GMO’s. Such a traceability system will
facilitate
accurate consumer labelling, environmental
monitoring and, if necessary, withdrawal of
products.
If the traceability system is adopted by
Parliament all food products produced from
GMO’s would have to be labelled, also if
genetically modified DNA or protein cannot be
detected in the final products. The
implication would be that many food-products
derived from GMO’s (eg. vegetable oils and
sugar) that don’t have to be labelled now
would be subject to a labelling obligation in
the future. The Commission also
proposes to label animal feed, consisting of
or produced from GMO’s. However, in the
Commissions proposals consumer products (like
milk, eggs and meat) that are derived from
animals raised on GM-animal feed are excluded
form the labelling provisions.
WHAT AMENDMENTS ARE TABLED BY THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT?
In different Parliamentarian Committees
several Members of the European Parliament
(MEP’s) tabled 55 amendments pressing for the
restriction of the labelling requirements and
aiming at the removal of the Commissions
proposals for a more comprehensive labelling
system. Most of these amendments were drafted
by Conservative MEP’s (EVP-ED) and by David
Bowe, a Social Democratic MEP who is taking a
dissident position in the PSE-fraction. The
most important argument put forward by the
EVP-ED-MEP’s
and by Mr. Bowe is that only those products
in which genetically modified DNA or protein
can be detected through chemical tests should
be subject to labelling. According to this
MEP’s any other system is open to fraud.
However, this argument is countered by the
European Commission by pointing at the fact
that the traceability system is already laid
down in European food law and is applied to
many conventional products, such as fruits,
vegetables and meat.
Another important group of amendments aims
at an extension of the labelling regime as
proposed by the Commission. These amendments
( 15 in total) call for labelling of food
products derived from animals fed on GM-feed.
Such amendments were tabled in different
Parlementarian Commissions by Social
Democratic and Green MEPs.
WHAT IS THE EXPECTED OUTCOME OF
TOMORROW’S VOTE?
This is hard to predict. The vast majority
of the Conservative MEPs are against the
traceability and extended labelling as posed
by the Commission. The vast majority of the
Greens and the Socialists are in
favour of such traceability. Moreover, they
want to amend the Commission’s proposal and
include food products, derived from animals
fed with GM-feed in the compulsory labelling
scheme. Since the Conservatives on the one
side and the Socialists/Greens on the other
side more or less outbalance each other,
everything depends on the smaller groups, in
particular the Liberals (ELDR). They have 5
votes in the Committee and 52 votes in the
plenary. Until now, the Liberals have not
spoken with one voice. Some members take more
or less the same position as the Socialists
and the Greens, whereas others (like Dirk
Sterckx from Belgium) have said recently and
publicly that they have not yet made up their
mind.
WHAT IS THE RELATION TO THE EU-MORATORIUM
ON GMOs?
In June 1999, when the so called ‘de
facto’ moratorium on new marketing
authorisations of GMOs entered into force,
the countries supporting the moratorium
(which at that stage were France, Greece,
Italy, Denmark and Luxemburg) released a
joint statement in which they urged the
Commission
to submit “without delay full draft rules
ensuring labelling and traceability of GMOs
and GMO-derived products”. Also they five
countries said that “pending the adoption of
such rules, in accordance with
preventive and precautionary principles,
they will take steps to have any new
authorisations for growing and placing on the
market suspended.” Since 1999 Belgium and
Germany have joined the ‘de facto’ moratorium
on new marketing authorisations of GMOs.
MEP’s that vote down the
Commissions proposal for a traceability and
comprehensive labelling system for GM-food
run the risk that they will trigger a
prolonging of the EU moratorium on new
authorisations of GM-crops.
FOE’s POSITION
Friends of the Earth thinks that the
proposal of the European Commission to set up
a system which will ensure traceability of
GMOs and of food and feed produced therefrom,
in order to facilitate accurate consumer
labelling, environmental monitoring and, if
necessary, withdrawal of products, is a very
positive development. It would be a slap in
the face of the European consumer and the
environment if these proposals were rejected
or watered down by the European Parliament.
Furthermore, Friends of the Earth believes
that products derived from animals raised on
GM-feed should also fall under the labelling
regime. Friends of the Earth therefore
support the amendments that call for the
inclusion of these products in the labelling
regime.
WHAT’ S NEXT?
After the vote in the Environment
Committee, the plenary of the European
Parliament will vote on (the amendments to)
the Commission’s proposals. This vote is
currently scheduled for the beginning of
July. After this vote the amended proposal
goes to the Council, which will have to
establish a common position by qualified
majority. Then the Parliament examines the
common position of the Council. If the
Parliament approves this position by a
majority of 314 votes or more, the act will
be adopted. Parliament can also reject the
common position of the Council by 314 votes
or more. The third (and most likely)
possibility is that the Parliament amends the
position of the Council. If the Council
approves this amendments by qualified
majority, the act is adopted. If the Council
disapproves these amendments, there will be a
conciliation procedure and the Commission
will come up with a compromise. Subsequently
this compromise proposal should be adopted by
a qualified majority in the Council and by a
majority of 314 votes or more in the
Parliament. Both Parliament and the Council
are under considerable pressure, since when
no
act is adopted a continuation of the ‘de
facto’ moratorium is very likely.
MORE INFORMATION
Friends of the Earth has produced a
detailed analysis of the amendments that will
be voted upon in the Environment Committee
tomorrow. This document is attached to this
press-briefing. Also available (upon request)
are two position papers about both proposals
of the European Commission. A spokesperson
from Friends of the Earth (for details, see
below) will be available to comment on the
outcome of the Environment Committee, which
is expected around noon.
Geert Ritsema
European GMO Campaigner
Friends of the Earth Europe
Phone: + 32-2-5420182
Mobile: + 31-6-290 05 908
(1) These proposals are:
- Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council
concerning traceability and labelling of
genetically modified organisms and
traceability of food and feed products
produced from
genetically modified organisms COM (2001)
182 final - Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on
genetically modified food and feed COM (2001)
425 final
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