If Europeans make their stringent rules on genetically modified food work, other countries might adopt them and that could create a headache for North American food exporters, says David Hickling of the Canola Council of Canada.
Hickling said the Canadian canola industry is accustomed to GM canola being excluded from the European Union, but any spread beyond there would be a problem.
“I’m worried about the influence of Europeans on areas where we have customers,” said Hickling in an interview after a speech to the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association.
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“I see the European approach to labelling and biotechnology regulations spreading to other countries.”Hickling said countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Egypt and India are considering GM food labels.
The EU has introduced a mandatory declaring and labelling system in which any food product or ingredient that has a trace amount of GM must be designated.
The situation concerns food industry officials because non-GM foods such as grain shipments could have a trace amount of GM material.
An official convicted of making an inaccurate declaration can be liable for fines or imprisonment.
Canada has no GM-listing requirement. A national voluntary system has been designed, but Hickling said he knows of no one who is using it.
The Canadian system provides language for food companies to claim that their products either were made using GM materials, that they were not made with GM materials, or that they were made with GM materials but contain no GM material in the finished product.
Hickling, who worked on the voluntary labelling regulations, said he thinks the first people to use them will be manufacturers of non-GM foods.
The canola industry is happy that the third category exists. Products that can claim to be a product of genetic modification, but do not contain GM material in their final form, allow foreign canola buyers to say they are not producing a GM product.
“It’s a small victory for us. I think it’s a very small victory,” said Hickling.
“But for trade, it’s important.”Hickling said it is uncertain whether most countries will move to a stringent labelling system like in the EU, or adopt a looser system as in North America.
GM crops are being grown in many parts of the world, but also increasing is the drive to control and label GM crops and products.
