Taiwan to require GMO product labelling in 2001
TAIPEI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Taiwan's health department said on Tuesday
it would respond to consumer pressure and require all products made
from genetically modified organisms (GMO) to be labelled by 2001.
Taiwan would first enforce the labelling on corn and soybean
products, then gradually on other agricultural products, Chen
Shu-kong, director of the health department's Bureau of Food
Sanitation, told Reuters in a telephone interview. ``According to our
information, there is no safety concern on genetically-altered foods.
The labelling is to allow consumers the right to choose,'' he said.
``When the gene modification technology is applied to commercial
production of other crops, we would expand the labelling to those
products.'' Chen said his bureau would complete detailed guidelines
for labelling GMO foods and map out regulations that would require
GMO farm products to meet government safety standards by the end of
2000. Chen said the health department had yet to decide how much GMO
material would have to be in a product before it had to be labelled.
RESPONSE TO PRESSURE
Chen said the decision on compulsory labelling was in reaction to
mounting calls from consumers and environmental groups. A survey
conducted by private pollster Gallup Taiwan in September showed 74
percent of 1,083 respondents expected the government to enforce
labelling on foods made from GMO crops. The poll indicated nearly 70
percent of interviewees had heard of processed GMO foods, but only 11
percent said they would never buy genetically-modified products.
Taiwan is following other Asian countries on GMO regulations and
labelling. South Korea said it would require labelling of GM corn,
soybeans and bean sprouts from March 2001, with other GM processed
foods requiring labelling from July 2001. In Japan, the government
has ordered suppliers to provide proof that GMO foods meet the health
ministry's safety standards, and will ban imports of foods containing
unapproved GMOs from April 2001.
WELCOME MOVE
Genetically modified crops contain a gene from another organism to
give plants resistance to a certain herbicide or the ability to
produce its own toxin to kill pests. Proponents of GMO crops say the
new technology contributes to better yields and lower production
costs. Taiwan's environmental groups hailed the government decision.
``The decision to requiring labelling is in line with people's
expectations. At least it gives customers the right to know and the
right to choose,'' said Ming-lone Liou, secretary-general of private
Environmental Quality Protection Foundation. Local food makers and
traders said it was too early to say the move would cause a shift to
non-GM crops, although food processors had said they would pass any
additional costs on to consumers if prices of GM-free crops were more
expensive. Food conglomerate Uni-President Enterprises Corp
(1216.TW), said it would comply with government regulations on
modified foods, but that it would eventually opt for GMO-free
products. A Uni-President official said the difficulty now was there
was no internationally-standardised technology to completely
differentiate GM crops from non-gene modified products. Traders said
they estimated around 50 percent of Taiwan's imports of soybeans and
30 percent of corn imports were genetically-modified.
(US$1-T$32)
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.