Labelling is
mandatory within
the EU for
all products
consisting of,
containing,
or obtained
from GM
plants.
This should
allow the
informed choice
of the consumer,
although the
label
“containing GMO”
or “obtained
from GMO” does
not say anything
about the actual
characteristics
of the product.
Indeed, modified
traits can be
very diverse
and,
furthermore, the
commercialized
product derived
from a GMO may
be strictly
identical to the
conventional
product. In many
cases the trait
that was
modified in the
GM plant aims at
improving the
field
performance of
the crop plant
(herbicide
tolerance for
instance) with
no intended
impact on the
quality of the
end-used
product. For
instance,
refined oil from
a herbicide
tolerant maize
is strictly
equivalent to
the oil
extracted from
conventional
varieties.
Nevertheless, it
will be labelled
as originating
from GMOs. This
is a major point
of the EU
legislation, but
also a
conflicting
issue between EU
and US, which
estimates that
products with no
change in their
end properties
should not be
segregated and
labelled. By the
way, the initial
rule in the EU
(Novel Food
regulation )
estimated that
no labelling was
required unless
the product was
substantially
non equivalent
in terms of
composition
and/or presence
of novel
DNA/proteins,
but this
rationale was
changed by the
later
Regulations EC
N° 1830/2003
1820/2003 that
imposed the
labelling of
any GM
derived product,
regardless of
whether or not
it is modified.
