July 3, 2003 – The European Union this week passed laws that could quickly lead to mandatory labeling of all foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
These laws will now have to be passed by the national governments of EU member countries to take effect. If they are approved, in addition to mandatory labeling, they will force the segregation of genetically modified crops and limit to less than 1% the quantity of such crops which, mixed with traditional crops, could be exported “accidentally” to the territory. European.
The EU imposed a moratorium on the approval of any new genetically modified crops in 1998, when the mad cow crisis made consumers fear the worst. This ban has been challenged before the World Trade Organization by several genetically modified crop exporting countries, including Canada and the United States, which claim it causes them to lose hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
The adoption of the new laws could now lead to a reopening of the European market to these products.
In the same vein, international experts warn that it will be impossible to effectively fight hunger across the world without using GMOs. A population explosion, armed conflicts, natural disasters, political corruption and water shortages are all factors which, they say, make the call for new agricultural production technologies inevitable.
In 1996, the international community set a goal of halving world hunger by 2015, but the United Nations says that goal will not even be reached in 2030.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to Reuters; July 2-3, 2003.
