Codex Committee Stops Work on GMO Project

Codex’s Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL) has discontinued its work on defining and outlining labeling conditions for GMO products. The International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) reported the decision, noting it was the result of “no agreement at last month’s CCFL meeting in Canada.”

“This decision ends years of discussion in which the CCFL was divided between those proposing process-based GMO labeling and those proposing that GMOs should be declared on the label only when they are present in the final product,” stated IADSA’s regulatory affairs director, David Pineda Ereno.

IADSA reports that the Codex committee has instead decided to develop a compilation of Codex texts relating to the labeling of foods “derived from modern biotechnology...” The committee is working on a draft that will be presented for final adoption at the Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting in July.

“The compilation document will recall and assemble some important elements of guidance from Codex texts that are relevant to the labeling of foods derived from modern biotechnology,” Ereno added. “It is not intended to suggest or imply that foods derived from modern biotechnology are necessarily different from other foods simply due to their methods of production, and the idea is that any approach implemented by Codex members should be consistent with already adopted Codex provisions.”

IADSA reports that at last month’s meeting, CCFL also agreed on a definition for Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs); to develop claims and conditions of use related to trans fatty acids for inclusion in nutrition and health-claims guidelines; and to further develop mandatory nutrition labeling for all foods.

Representing more than 50 national trade associations and over 20,000 companies, IADSA has more than doubled its size since its creation in 1998.