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The Indian Health Ministry on 22 May published draft rules on biotech labelling under which all food and food products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or produced using modern biotechnology must be labelled before being placed on the market. Under the proposed amendments to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules (PFA), 1955, any food that either is a GMO, has GM ingredients, or has been “derived from biotechnology” must be labelled as such, including on any relevant packaging, regardless of whether the product has been imported or domestically produced. Similarly, the rules say that imported GM food must also include a label indicating that the product has been cleared for marketing and use in the country of origin. The rules, which come on the heels of the publication of guidelines for approval of GM imports that were recently notified to the WTO (G/TBT/N/IND/17) (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 19 May 2006), confirm that imports of GM products without the approval of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) are prohibited. Although the rules were promulgated with the goal of “providing correct information to consumers”, civil society groups assailed the text as a “means for legalising contamination by employing a regulatory system that is deeply flawed”, confirming their ongoing opposition to the approval of GM crops, and in particular Bt cotton, in light of continued uncertainty about the environmental and food security impacts of the crops. Business groups expressed concerns regarding the implications of labelling on costs of production and segregation. Practical concerns have also been raised regarding the feasibility of labelling in a country where the vast majority of food is not packaged. Notwithstanding the broad scope of these rules which will go into effect at the end of June, GEAC at its 22 May meeting decided that the soy oil importing industry could file for a one-time GEAC approval of imports of GM soy bean oil derived from Round up Ready Soybean. The decision marks an exemption from overall GM approval framework under the PFA which the committee justified by the absence of GMOs in the final, processed soy oil. Some actors interpreted this as a decision that GEAC approval is only necessary where the final product itself includes GMOs, which the Ministry of Environment reportedly confirmed.
The labelling rules are available at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=17941
Information on GEAC is available at http://www.envfor.nic.in/divisions/csurv/geac/geac_home.html
“India to ease controls on gene-modified oils,” REUTERS, 26 May 2006; “Draft rules for labelling of GM food in India,” NEW KERALA, 23 May 2006; “CSA-India: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare re GM Labelling Rules,” Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, 15 April 2006; “Decision taken in the 67th Meeting of the GEAC held on 22nd May, 2006,” GEAC, 22 May 2006; “GEAC spares refined GM oils mandatory pre-import test,” FINANCIAL EXPRESS, 31 May 2006.
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