CONSENSUS REACHED ON VOLUNTARY STANDARD FOR LABELLING OF GENETICALLY
ENGINEERED FOODS
September 8, 2003
From a press release
OTTAWA - The Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors (CCGD) and the Chair
of the Committee on the Voluntary Labelling of Foods Obtained or Not
Obtained Through Genetic Modification, today announced to committee members
including the Government of Canada that consensus approval has been reached
on a voluntary standard for labelling and advertising of foods that are, or
are not, products of genetic engineering.
Committee members recently voted to approve the draft of the voluntary
standard. The next step is an internal review to be conducted by the
Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB), an organization within Public Works
and Government Services Canada which oversees the process of developing
standards for products and services. This will be followed by the referral
of the draft standard to the Standards Council of Canada for consideration
as a National Standard of Canada.
Funding for this initiative was provided through Agriculture and Agri- Food
Canada's contribution programs, as well as from other Government of Canada
sources and significant contributions from committee members and their
affiliated companies.
The Committee developing the Standard has been working since November 1999
and consists of 53 voting members and 75 non-voting members. It includes a
balance of stakeholder representation that encompasses consumers, producers
and general interest groups such as governments and universities.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and
Health Canada were among the six federal departments that participated in
the process for the development of a standard for the voluntary labelling of
biotechnology-derived foods. The Committee has followed the established CGSB
processes, which have been used to set standards for many other consumer
products in Canada.
"The four-year process of arriving at Committee consensus has been a
particularly arduous one, largely because we are all very aware of its
impact on Canadian consumers and the food industry," said Doryne Peace,
Chair of the Committee on the Voluntary Labelling of Foods Obtained or Not
Obtained Through Genetic Modification. "I would like to sincerely
congratulate all participants in the process and thank the CGSB for their
excellent work in managing these proceedings."
The CCGD initiated the development of the Standard for Voluntary Labelling
and Advertising of Foods That Are, and Are Not, Products of Genetic
Engineering. This standard will guide food companies to better inform
consumers whether or not products are derived from biotechnology.
"A voluntary labelling standard is good news for Canadians in making their
own informed food choices. The grocery industry wants consumers to be
informed and confident they are being offered truthful labelling," said
Jeanne Cruikshank, CCGD Vice-President, Atlantic Region. "This Standard will
achieve that. It's been a long process and not everyone has always been on
the same page, as you'll often find in any initiative. In this Standard, we
have taken an important step to better informing and empowering the
customer. I believe it will more than survive the test of the marketplace."
For more information on the standard, please see the CGSB Web site at
www.pwgsc.gc.ca/cgsb or contact the committee chair. For more information on
food labelling and food safety in Canada please see the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency and Health Canada websites at www.inspection.gc.ca and
www.hc-sc.gc.ca.