AD urges government to adopt GM labelling

Alternattiva Demokratika yesterday welcomed the European Parliament's vote to introduce strict labelling on foods containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients.

The green party also urged the government to take note of the vote and introduce similar progressive steps.

The new proposals, which still need to be agreed to by EU environment ministers, would mean that food containing GM derivatives that do not necessarily show up in testing, such as sugar and oils, would still have to be labelled. The new labelling threshold - 0.5% maximum - applies only to GMO derivatives accidentally present in conventional food and feed.

Prof. Arnold Cassola, AD Spokesperson for EU Affairs and General Secretary of the European Greens commented "From a Green Group perspective this was a very successful vote. The great majority of Green amendments were accepted. The Greens want these decisions to be extended to other products too."

Prof. Cassola added, "The European Parliament decision is a major success for European consumers and a serious defeat for the biotech industry which has lobbied hard against these proposals The vote opened the way for new legislation giving consumers the ability to avoid GM foods if they chose to do so."