Why is GMO labeled in 64 countries but Monsanto is fighting it in USA with millions of dollars? OR If GMO labeled in 64 countries , WHY is Monsanto fighting it in USA with millions of dollars?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 11/12/2015 13:05

You bring up two points in your question that we would like to address. The first is the labeling of products that contain ingredients from GMOs, and the second is company involvement in lobbying.

How are GMOs labeled?

GMOs are regulated in each country by the appropriate food and safety authorities. For example, in the United States, GMOs are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. In the United States, oversight for food labeling is provided by the FDA. In the U.S., labeling products that contain GMO ingredients is voluntary on a product-by-product basis.

Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, former director of agricultural biotechnology at EuropaBio, explains how GMO labeling options can differ between countries in this response:

“There is a quasi-generalised requirement to label products of GM origin that are not considered to be substantially equivalent to their conventional counterpart, with a view that the consumer be informed of novel traits and food properties to facilitate informed choices. Labeling can be mandatory (Australia, EU, Japan, Brazil, China) or voluntary (Canada, Hong Kong, United States). For products that are considered to be substantially equivalent, because they possess only input traits (such as insect resistance), there exists a large heterogeneity of approaches. Labeling can be product (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, United States) or process-based (EU, Brazil, China).”

Why would companies not support labeling?

While we can’t speak for any specific company, GMO Answers member companies are not anti-labeling. Former Council for Biotechnology Information executive director Cathy Enright describes the labeling we do support in this response and states, “when it comes to safeguarding your health and nutrition, we support the mandatory labeling of food, including GMO food, if it raises a safety or health concern, for example, to alert sensitive populations to the potential presence of an allergen.  We also support mandatory labeling of GMO food if there is a change to the food’s composition, nutritional profile, taste or smell, or any other characteristic that would make it different from its conventional counterpart.”

She goes on to explain that “but we cannot support the mandatory labeling of GMO food just because the food in the market was produced using genetic engineering, for example, in wine, yogurt or bread made with GM yeast, vegetable oil made from GM soybeans, or cereal sweetened with GM sugar. These foods are as safe and nutritious as their non-GMO counterparts as determined by recognized authorities around the world.”

Here is an example of a product label in the EU that lists ingredients produced from GM crops. This type of label does not provide information about the safety of the food, or any changes to the food that would make it different from its conventional counterpart.

Why do companies spend money on lobbying?

Oregon farmer Kevin Richards answers a very similar question here and shares that “companies spend money on lobbying to help preserve a predictable legal and regulatory environment to do business in. Companies involved in the food and agriculture sector spend more money than some other industries because it is regulated more highly.”

He also highlights that he “would like to see a lot less money spent on lobbying—not just by companies, but also by activist organizations, consumer groups, trade organizations, and individuals. It is not that I think lobbying money is necessarily bad. It’s that I think a lot of that spending is wasteful. There wouldn’t be nearly as much of an incentive to spend on lobbying if the process were less politicized and if regulations were more clear and implemented in a more predictable way.”

If you are interested in learning more about how GMOs are regulated on a global scale, and where they are grown and imported, we invite you to visit our Dig Deeper page. If you have any additional questions, please ask.

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 11/12/2015 13:05

You bring up two points in your question that we would like to address. The first is the labeling of products that contain ingredients from GMOs, and the second is company involvement in lobbying.

How are GMOs labeled?

GMOs are regulated in each country by the appropriate food and safety authorities. For example, in the United States, GMOs are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. In the United States, oversight for food labeling is provided by the FDA. In the U.S., labeling products that contain GMO ingredients is voluntary on a product-by-product basis.

Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, former director of agricultural biotechnology at EuropaBio, explains how GMO labeling options can differ between countries in this response:

“There is a quasi-generalised requirement to label products of GM origin that are not considered to be substantially equivalent to their conventional counterpart, with a view that the consumer be informed of novel traits and food properties to facilitate informed choices. Labeling can be mandatory (Australia, EU, Japan, Brazil, China) or voluntary (Canada, Hong Kong, United States). For products that are considered to be substantially equivalent, because they possess only input traits (such as insect resistance), there exists a large heterogeneity of approaches. Labeling can be product (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, United States) or process-based (EU, Brazil, China).”

Why would companies not support labeling?

While we can’t speak for any specific company, GMO Answers member companies are not anti-labeling. Former Council for Biotechnology Information executive director Cathy Enright describes the labeling we do support in this response and states, “when it comes to safeguarding your health and nutrition, we support the mandatory labeling of food, including GMO food, if it raises a safety or health concern, for example, to alert sensitive populations to the potential presence of an allergen.  We also support mandatory labeling of GMO food if there is a change to the food’s composition, nutritional profile, taste or smell, or any other characteristic that would make it different from its conventional counterpart.”

She goes on to explain that “but we cannot support the mandatory labeling of GMO food just because the food in the market was produced using genetic engineering, for example, in wine, yogurt or bread made with GM yeast, vegetable oil made from GM soybeans, or cereal sweetened with GM sugar. These foods are as safe and nutritious as their non-GMO counterparts as determined by recognized authorities around the world.”

Here is an example of a product label in the EU that lists ingredients produced from GM crops. This type of label does not provide information about the safety of the food, or any changes to the food that would make it different from its conventional counterpart.

Why do companies spend money on lobbying?

Oregon farmer Kevin Richards answers a very similar question here and shares that “companies spend money on lobbying to help preserve a predictable legal and regulatory environment to do business in. Companies involved in the food and agriculture sector spend more money than some other industries because it is regulated more highly.”

He also highlights that he “would like to see a lot less money spent on lobbying—not just by companies, but also by activist organizations, consumer groups, trade organizations, and individuals. It is not that I think lobbying money is necessarily bad. It’s that I think a lot of that spending is wasteful. There wouldn’t be nearly as much of an incentive to spend on lobbying if the process were less politicized and if regulations were more clear and implemented in a more predictable way.”

If you are interested in learning more about how GMOs are regulated on a global scale, and where they are grown and imported, we invite you to visit our Dig Deeper page. If you have any additional questions, please ask.