Several organic producers and merchants groups and associations are pressuring the US administration and more exactly the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) to change the tagging policy and force its inclusion at origin for products modified genetically.
Periodically, laws were introduced in the Congress to force definitions on the tag, the biotechnological origin of a product or of any of its components, but until now, no proposal was approved. The present norm regarding tagging is from 1992 and FDA is responsible for controlling its fulfillment.
The Organization of Biotechnological Industries doesn't want to include the biotechnological origin of those products, as it might confuse consumers, making them believe that they are different products when they aren't. According to this organization, the European Union is frequently on the forefront of those intentions to have Biotechnological tags, in several international forums like Codex.
This organization insists that there's no scientific argument to include those aspects in the food tags, saying that when some biotechnological process changes the nutrients composition of some food, this is specified in the current tags.
Another detail that was widely highlighted by the industry is the cost that stems from tagging. Regarding this, the office of US Trade Representatives stated recently that they will keep on voicing their concerns about the requirements of other countries to include in the tags details like how the food is produced instead of its scientific aspects.
On the side of the organization "Just label it" collected more than a million signatures to support their petition for FDA to modify its norms about tags.
According to this organization, in a questionnaire they carried out, 90% of the consumers support the idea to include those aspects in the tags. Another questionnaire by the International Food Information Council about this point, is different on the results and says that the amount of consumers wanting this information is 18%.
In favor of this new tagging are 10 Senators and 45 members of the Chamber of Representatives that signed a letter addressed to the FDA director, Marga Rethamburg, stating: "FDA has a clear chance to protect the consumers right to elect freely the food to feed our families".
Periodically, laws were introduced in the Congress to force definitions on the tag, the biotechnological origin of a product or of any of its components, but until now, no proposal was approved. The present norm regarding tagging is from 1992 and FDA is responsible for controlling its fulfillment.
The Organization of Biotechnological Industries doesn't want to include the biotechnological origin of those products, as it might confuse consumers, making them believe that they are different products when they aren't. According to this organization, the European Union is frequently on the forefront of those intentions to have Biotechnological tags, in several international forums like Codex.
This organization insists that there's no scientific argument to include those aspects in the food tags, saying that when some biotechnological process changes the nutrients composition of some food, this is specified in the current tags.
Another detail that was widely highlighted by the industry is the cost that stems from tagging. Regarding this, the office of US Trade Representatives stated recently that they will keep on voicing their concerns about the requirements of other countries to include in the tags details like how the food is produced instead of its scientific aspects.
On the side of the organization "Just label it" collected more than a million signatures to support their petition for FDA to modify its norms about tags.
According to this organization, in a questionnaire they carried out, 90% of the consumers support the idea to include those aspects in the tags. Another questionnaire by the International Food Information Council about this point, is different on the results and says that the amount of consumers wanting this information is 18%.
In favor of this new tagging are 10 Senators and 45 members of the Chamber of Representatives that signed a letter addressed to the FDA director, Marga Rethamburg, stating: "FDA has a clear chance to protect the consumers right to elect freely the food to feed our families".
Source: Spanish Embassy in Washington