US Loses Battles over GMO Food
Safety & Traceability at Codex Meeting

Xinhua (China News Agency)
March 8, 2002 Friday

International Conference Agrees on Safety Standards for GM Foods, XINHUA

TOKYO, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Participants at an international conference on
food safety Friday agreed on the standards for genetically modified (GM)
foods in Yokohama, Kyodo News reported.

The agreement was reached on the final day of the five-day special subgroup
meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international governmental
organization on food-safety standards, Kyodo said, adding that the agreement
paves the way for the adoption of the first such rule next year. Two items,
including a draft of basic principles for safety analyses of GM foods, and a
draft of safety guidelines for agricultural products, were the main agenda
items at the conference, Kyodo said.

Participants agreed the basic concept of a comprehensive tracking system for
GM foods that covers production stages from cultivation to distribution,
will be included in the draft of the principles.

The European Union member nations, NGOs and consumer groups insisted on
the necessity of introducing a GM food tracking system, while GM food producing
nations including the United States, Canada and South American nations were
less inclined to support such a system, the report said.

After tough negotiations, the participants eventually agreed that the need
for such a comprehensive tracking system will be included in the basic
principles, but opted not to specifically use the word "traceability", it
said.

The international standards, which will be formally endorsed at a plenary
session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in the summer of 2003, are
likely to guide each nation's formulation of basic rules on GM foods.
The conference was participated by representatives from more than 30
nations, as well as international and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).