Germany Amends Gene-Food Law

The Lower House of German Parliament (Bundestag) has adopted a new set of laws for labeling food obtained from animals fed with GM-containing feeds. Under the new rules, animal products like milk, eggs and meat can be labeled as “GM free” even if they have been supplied with feed additives like vitamins, amino acids and enzymes produced by genetically modified organisms. The compounds should be approved by the EU-Eco-Regulation and no non-GM produced alternatives are available. The “without GM” label can be used on a voluntary basis.

In addition, the lower house has also adopted amendments on the rules for GM maize cultivation. It has introduced a minimum distance of 150 meters between GM maize and conventional maize fields, and 300 meters between GM maize and organic maize fields to “protect the varieties from cross pollination”. Farmers planning to cultivate Bt maize are required to advise their neighbors three months before the intended date of sowing. Agreements between farmers will be recorded by a federal authority in a nationwide site register. Records from the register show that around 250 German farmers currently plan to seed more than 3,600 hectares of GM maize in this year.

Read more at http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/326.docu.html Further information is available at (in German) http://www.bmelv.de/cln_044/nn_750598/DE/04-Landwirtschaft/Gentechnik/NovellierungGentechnikrecht2.html__nnn=true