EuropaBio Position paper on the scope of the EU GM Food and Feed Regulation (EC) 1829/2003

Brussels, 28 Jul 2005

EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, has 50 direct members

Background

On 22 September 2003 the European Parliament and the Council adopted two Regulations on genetically modified food and feed1 and traceability and labeling of genetically modified organisms and food and feed products produced from them2. On 24 September 2004 the Standing Committee on the food chain and animal health (section on genetically modified food and feed and environmental risk) clarified the scope of Regulation 1829/2003 by stating that: "food and feed (including food and feed ingredients such as additives, flavorings and vitamins) produced by fermentation using a genetically modified micro-organism (GMM) which is kept under contained conditions and is not present in the final product are not included in the scope of Regulation 1829/2003 ". The Standing Committee also stated that it will discuss further whether or not to include these products in connection with the review of the Regulation in November 2005.

EuropaBio Position

EuropaBio would like to reaffirm the principle that all regulation concerning safety and health should be science based and non-discriminatory.

EuropaBio finds that any potential decision to include within the scope of the EU GM Food and Feed Regulation products that have been produced using GMMs in containment would provide uncertainty for the industry and have very serious consequences for the fermentation industry operating both in Europe as well as at international level. The inclusion of these types of products would add to the unenforceability of the Regulation and among other things leave the system open to fraud in particular in the case of imported products.

In the light of this EuropaBio is of the view that the Standing Committee's Decision of 24 September 2004 should be made permanent in connection with the announced review of the Regulation expected in November 2005. In order to reduce uncertainty and unpredictability EuropaBio encourages the Commission as well as Member States to accept the common understanding that in practice fermentation products are out of scope of the Regulation as long as they are based upon a production approved according to the requirements set out in the contained use Directive ( 90/219/EEC as amended by 98/81/EC ) and consequently that the derived products do not contain any GMMs.

EuropaBio finds it relevant to underline that the discussions and decisions referred to above do not change the fact that all processing aids are out of the scope of Regulation 1829/2003 .

For further information, contact:
Dirk Carrez
EuropaBio
Public Policy Director
Tel: +32 2 735 0313 Direct: +32 2 739 1173
Email: d.carrez@europabio.org

EUROPABIO
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