If new rules agreed by the council of ministers are approved by the European parliament in its second reading, labelling requirements will apply to foods with a GM content more than 0.9%, compared with 1% under existing legislation.
Among three states unable to support the agreement, Austria and Luxembourg said the text of the agreement didn’t go far enough while the UK considered it went too far.
An issue to be addressed concerns accidental contamination of food and feed by unauthorised GMOs. The European parliament wants a complete ban. The council decided in favour of implementing this, but only after a 3-year transition period. Over this time, a 0.5% threshold would apply.
The European Commission says it may still consider proposing an extension to this three-year period.
Text agreed at the meeting will be formally adopted before it’s sent back to the European parliament for a second reading.
2468th Council Meeting - Agriculture & Fisheries http://www.consilium.eu.int/en/summ.htm
Environmental groups http://www.greens-efa.org/en/press/detail.php?id=1201&lg=en
Keywords : Genetic modification Genetically modified organisms GMOs Food Feeds Europe EU Labelling
