Labelling of foodstuffs and feed

Draft Act on the labelling of products made without the use of genetically modified organisms as free of these organisms

The draft Act on the labelling of products made without the use of genetically modified organisms as free of these organisms proposes to introduce new regulations on the voluntary labelling of food and feed as produced without the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO), as well as the supervision of such labelling.

The draft approves ‘GMO-free’ labelling adopted in the legal systems of other EU/EFTA states and Turkey. While preparing the provisions of this Act, attempts were made to approach the solutions adopted in other Member States in order to prevent the disruption of the free movement of goods.

The draft Act indicates that the following may be labelled as GMO-free:

- food of plant origin and feed, but only the kind which has genetically modified equivalents authorised for the EU market (maize, rapeseed, soya, sugar beet),

- food of animal origin from animals or from animals fed with ‘non-GMO’ feed,

- compound food which contains at least 50 % ingredients eligible for labelling.

In accordance with the draft provisions, by way of regulation of the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, two identical graphic signs will be introduced in the form of ‘GMO-free’ for products which do not contain GMOs (e.g. food of plant origin and feed with their GMO equivalents authorised for the EU market and entered into the Community register of genetically modified food and feed) and ‘Produced without the use of GMOs’ for products of animal origin which have been produced without the use of GMOs (e.g. meat, milk, eggs) and compound products which contain ingredients of animal origin.

The draft sets out obligations for entities which manufacture, process, package or store non-prepackaged products to be labelled as GMO-free and place them on the market. The proposed labelling system is a voluntary system. Compliance with the provisions of the Act will be controlled by three official services, i.e. the Veterinary Inspection, the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection and the Trade Inspection.