June 10, 2008

EU health chief suggests more flexible GM food imports

EU health commissioner, Androulla Vassiliou, announced plans to propose a ceiling for the amount of unauthorised GM material which could be tolerated in imports.

Vassiliou said that EU's problem is zero tolerance. The commissioner suggested for very limited amounts of GM to be mixed in imports of foods like corn and soy.

The ceiling would be less than 1 percent, Vassiliou added, citing that the proposal should be issued by early August.

Currently, the EU sets a tolerance threshold of 0.9 percent for GM material in food and feed.

EU feedmakers have complained of sourcing raw material, warning that the consequences of EU's zero tolerance of unauthorised GMs could greatly endanger the food and feed sectors.

EU takes a minimum of 2.5 years, and often longer, to complete new GMO approvals compared with an average of 15 months in the US, EU commission experts said.

Vassiliou said the ceiling proposal will not be a permanent solution, just a temporary remedy to the problem.