International outlook: labelling of foods derived from GMOs

Masami Takeuchi, Ph.D.

Food Safety Officer

Why label food?

• Nutrition facts• Health claims• Added value (marketing, religion, policy,

preference): organic, halal, fair trade, eco-friendly, etc

• Potential allergen information• Information on additives• Right-to-know - GMOs

Possible issues of labelling

• Information overload• Possible confusions (mis-lead

consumers)• Language issue• Synonyms?• Right-to-know

(at what level?)• Accuracy?

Food Labelling

• Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL)

• More than 40 years• Meets every year• Next session: 21-24 Oct 2014

(Canada?)• http://www.codexalimentarius.org/comm

ittees-and-task-forces/en/?provide=committeeDetail&idList=7

CCFL documents

• General guidelines on claims (1991)• Guidelines on nutrition labelling (2013)• Guidelines for use of nutrition and health claims (2013)• General guidelines for use of the term Halal (1997)• Guidelines for the production, processing, labelling and

marketing of organicaly produced foods (2013)• Compilation of Codex exts relevant to the labelling of foods

derived from modern biotechnology (2011) – see CXG_07s.pdf• General standard for the labelling of prepackaged foods (2010)• General standard for the labelling of food additives when sold

as such (1981)• General standard for the labelling of and claims for

prepackaged foods for special dietary uses (1985)

One line about GMO labelling

• Risk management measures may include, as appropriate, food labelling conditions for marketing approvals and post-market monitoring.

• [Paragraph 19 of the Principles for the Risk Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern Biotechnology (CAC/GL 44-2003)]

International perspective

• At the moment, there are no internationally-agreed recommendations on the food labelling of GM foods.

• Governments are therefore applying their own regulations.

• [see Questions about specific Codex work at http://www.codexalimentarius.org/faqs/specific-codex-work/]

2013 FAO Technical survey

• Question: If your country has a specific labelling requirement for GM crops, please briefly describe key features of the requirement. Please select all that apply.

• Answers: 75 countries – see Labelling.pdf

Positive/Negative and Mandatory/voluntary

• This product contains GMOs (positive)• This product does not contain GMOs

(negative)• Retailer MUST label the product

(mandatory)– Positive, negative or both

• Retailer MAY label the product (voluntary)– Positive, negative or both

Issue of thresholds

• For both mandatory and voluntary labelling, there is a need to establish a threshold– Zero?– 0.9%?– 1%?– 5%?

• Science-based?• Issue of LLP?

Possible forward-looking prelim activities

• Understand consumers– Demands and needs– Level of knowledge/understanding

• Involve stakeholders– Industry associations– Academia– NGOs

• Consider the government’s priorities and the feasible options

Questions?