Ten Years of Labeling In Europe

Ten years after the Novel Food Regulation was passed, and foodstuffs and ingredients made from genetically modified organisms became subject to particular regulation orders, the European Union is still divided over the issue of labeling. Lawmakers perceive it as a neutral consumer information tool, while consumers are more likely to perceive such labeling as a warning notice. Consequently, producers avoid preliminary products and ingredients which are liable for labeling.

In 2004, the European Union Commission changed the status of GM foodstuff and removed it from the Novel Food Regulation. Under the new policy, GM foodstuffs require labeling even when an applied GMO is no longer detectable in the final product. The labeling provision however does not include an array of applications of gene technology such as the use of genetically modified plants as fodder for farm animals.

Read the news article at http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/messages/200701.docu.html#88.