if the EU is in support of GMO safety, why do products containing them require labels, or in some instances outright ban GMO's in many of their countries?

Expert response from Carel du Marchie Sarvaas

Former Director of Agricultural Biotechnology, EuropaBio

Monday, 11/11/2013 21:07

In the European Union, GM labelling is mandatory for all food and feed products consisting of, containing, or obtained from GM plants when this is above 0.9% of that ingredient. The 0.9% threshold was determined by political co-decision and has no foundation in any scientific finding or fact.

GM labelling has nothing to do with food safety. It is for commercial purposes in order to distinguish between GM, conventional and organic products when they are sold to consumers as they correspond to different market segments. The principle behind GM labelling in Europe is freedom of choice – both for consumers and farmers; unfortunately with illegal bans implemented in some EU countries, governments do not comply with the ‘freedom of choice’ principle for farmers as they deprive them from planting approved GM crops.

A map of where GMOs are approved for cultivation, food, feed and trial is available here: http://gmoanswers.com/public-review.

If you have additional questions after reading this response, please ask.