EU attempts to tighten GM food labelling regulations, which will have major implications for most food processing companies, do not go far enough, groups opposed to GM foods and the Green Party have insisted.
The EU rules will mean companies have to label foods if the genetically-modified content exceeds 1 per cent.
The threshold has been approved by the EU standing committee for foodstuffs, but it has been claimed that many of the large supermarket groups - in response to consumer demand - are already applying a 0.1 per cent benchmark for accidental contamination of a non-GM food by GM ingredients. Given a more stringent limit was possible, Green MEP Ms Nuala Ahern asked why the European Commission had proposed "a completely arbitrary level 10 times higher".
Genetic Concern spokeswoman Ms Sadhbh O'Neill expressed relief the threshold was 1 per cent rather than 3 per cent, which was originally mooted. Strict limits were possible, she said, with proper sourcing of foods, stringent traceability and segregation right through processing.
The initial regulations apply to GM soya and maize, which are mostly imported from the US, while the committee is moving to include GM food additives and flavourings in the labelling scheme. Significantly, it will not give companies authority to label their foods as "GM-free".
Meanwhile, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, has noted with "amazement and disappointment" the response of anti-GM food groups to his national policy on GMOs. Their response was "poorly researched, inaccurate and, in several instances, misleading", he said.
"Given the unwillingness of the NGOs to acknowledge the views of other interests or to engage in meaningful dialogue in the consultation debate, I shouldn't have been surprised."
The outcome to the national consultation process was balanced and fair to all interests, he said. "Lest there be any doubt about my position, I believe that in pursuing a positive but precautionary policy on releases of GMOs to the environment, the primary emphasis must be on precaution, well-rounded on scientific risk-assessment and management."
