- Note: The Codex Alimentarius (the WTO's Food Standards
Setting Body) committee on labeling just concluded 4 days of meetings in
Ottawa, Canada, with most nations of the world pushing for mandatory labeling
of GE foods and crops. These mandatory labeling rules were blocked as in
previous years by the world's three largest GE crop and food producers,
the US, Canada, and Argentina. The next Codex labeling meeting will take
place in Halifax, Nova Scootia next year.
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- OTTAWA--Third World countries pleaded yesterday with
Canada and the United States to label the genetically modified foods they
export, saying they won't be able to cope if the foods prove dangerous.
Noting that many scientists are worried that the human food supply could
be contaminated by the proliferation of genetically modified crops, Nigeria
asked a United Nations body meeting in Ottawa yesterday to introduce strict
labelling rules quickly.
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- If it ever turns out that GM foods do present a health
hazard, African nations will be hardest hit, Nigerian delegate Tseaa Shambe
told the UN Codex Alimentarius (Latin for food labelling) conference.
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- "We in Africa have got poor hospitals," he
said. "We plead with the Codex committee to take this issue [GM food-labelling]
seriously."
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- Other developing nations, particularly India, echoed
Nigeria's impassioned push for comprehensive, mandatory labelling of all
GM foods. However, nations that produce such foods -- notably Canada, the
United States and Argentina -- stalled progress toward an cut off the labelling
debate early in the afternoon, promising a longer debate at the next meeting,
a year from now in Halifax. This year's conference began on Tuesday and
runs until tomorrow, but yesterday was the only opportunity to debate the
labelling of GM foods.
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- Progress on the issue has been incremental since the
mid-1990s.
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- Canada, the United States and Argentina, who produce
the vast majority of the world's genetically modified commercial crops,
disagree with the idea that foods should be labelled simply because they
were genetically modified, arguing that labels are necessary only if the
foods pose a proven risk. Canada has a voluntary labelling scheme, allowing
companies to decide for themselves whether to tell consumers the product
has been altered. However, a recent poll by Pollara Inc. and Earnscliffe
Research and Communications found that 94 per cent of Canadians believe
the government should order companies to label GM products.
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- Yesterday, Canada and the United States successfully
pushed to add the term "modern biotechnology" to the list of
possible labels under a future international agreement. Greenpeace Canada
campaigner Holly Penfound slammed the move as an attempt to confuse consumers
who are wary of foods that have been genetically modified. "It's just
another attempt to water down labels so they won't be meaningful to the
consumer."
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- Canada and the United States were also successful in
adding the words "fairer practices in food trade" to the list
of objectives, a move that some fear will ensure that the World Trade Organization
becomes final arbiter of disputes regarding labelling of GM foods.
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- Just before debate was cut off, the Dutch delegation
slammed the slow-moving Codex process, saying the body should be "more
ambitious," and focus not on trade considerations, but consumer needs.
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- Organic Consumers Association http://www.purefood.org
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