Management of genetically modified foods

作者：admin  点击次数：139  发布时间：2025-07-01

The world's major developed countries and some developing countries have formulated their own management regulations for genetically modified organisms (including plants) and are responsible for evaluating and monitoring their safety. They are mainly divided into two major groups. The United States, Canada, Argentina and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China adopt voluntary labeling management methods for genetically modified organisms; other countries and regions mainly adopt mandatory labeling management methods. Some international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (DECD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have organized and held many expert meetings in recent years, actively organized international coordination, and tried to establish unified management standards and procedures for the biotechnology industry that most countries (especially developing countries) can accept. However, due to many disputes, there is no unified provision yet.
1. The United States and Canada
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are responsible for the detection, evaluation and supervision of genetically modified foods in the United States. Among them, the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is the statutory authority for managing the vast majority of foods, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Department is responsible for managing the safety and health effects of meat, poultry and egg products on consumers, and the EPA is responsible for managing the use and safety of pesticides for food crops. The management scope of each department depends on the final use of the GMO product. A product may involve the management of multiple departments, and each department is relatively independent, with clear division of labor, clear rights and responsibilities, mutual coordination and unity, and high operational efficiency. Due to the relatively loose policy adopted by the United States on the management of genetically modified foods, the United States' genetically modified crops and genetically modified foods have developed very rapidly and have a monopoly position in the world. However, the United States still has serious deficiencies in the management and law of genetically modified foods, that is, it is believed that as long as genetically modified foods pass the review, they can be regarded as traditional foods and do not need to be labeled; only genetically modified foods that are very different from similar traditional foods in terms of ingredients, nutritional value and allergenicity are labeled as genetically modified foods.
Canada is mainly responsible for the supervision of genetically modified plant products by two management agencies: one is the Canadian Food Inspection Service (CFIA), which is mainly responsible for environmental emissions, field testing, environmental safety, seed bills, feed bill variety registration, etc. The second is the Canadian Health Organization (HC), which is mainly responsible for the safety assessment of new foods. Canada stipulates that GMF manufacturers must register with the "Health Protection Department" before production and obtain approval from the department; such foods and their products must meet all applicable standards after entering the market; manufacturers should be responsible for ensuring the safety of food and products and comply with regulatory management requirements. Canada's relevant regulations on CMF mainly include the "New Food Regulations" (1995, 1996) and the "New Food Safety Assessment Standards" (1994), and since January 2001, genetically modified foods and drugs on the market have been labeled.
2. European Union
The European Union has adopted very strict management measures for the labeling of genetically modified organisms. From 1990 to 2003, four EU Council regulations were promulgated and implemented to strictly regulate the labeling of genetically modified products. Its characteristics are: (1) gradually implementing a mandatory, detailed, standardized, strict and scientific labeling system for genetically modified products; (2) mandatory requirements for products derived from genetically modified organisms, regardless of whether the DNA and protein components containing genetically modified organisms can be detected, must be labeled;
(3) the upper threshold of labeling is reduced from 1% to 0.9%, that is, if the genetically modified component in each independent component of a product exceeds 0.9% of this independent component due to accidental factors or technically unavoidable factors, the product must be labeled.
While strictly labeling genetically modified products, Regulation 1830/2003 of the European Parliament and the Council of September 2003 proposed the traceability and labeling of genetically modified organisms, and the traceability of food and feed products made from genetically modified organisms. The regulation requires that when products made from genetically modified organisms are put on the market, distributors must ensure that the following information is passed on to the next level of distributors:
(1) Label each ingredient made from genetically modified organisms in the food;
(2) Indicate each feed substance or additive made from genetically modified organisms;
(3) If the product does not have an ingredient list, it must be stated that the product is made from genetically modified organisms.
In addition, distributors need to establish appropriate systems and procedures to ensure that they can explain where their products come from and to which distributor they are transferred within 5 years of the transaction.
The Austrian government has also enacted a pure seed law that prohibits conventional seeds from being contaminated by genetically modified varieties above the detection limit. The promulgation of this law makes Austria the first country among the 15 EU member states to apply the "zero tolerance" principle to genetically modified seed contamination.
3. China
In the 1980s, while China was conducting research on genetically modified technology, relevant departments of the State Council attached great importance to the safety of genetic engineering and successively promulgated a series of relevant regulations, which put the safety management of agricultural genetically modified organisms on the track of legalization. In 1993, the former State Science and Technology Commission promulgated the "Genetic Engineering Safety Management Measures". Based on this measure, on July 10, 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture promulgated the "Implementation Measures for the Safety Management of Agricultural Biological Genetic Engineering" and established the Agricultural Biological Genetic Engineering Safety Committee and the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Safety Management Office. In 1997, the Ministry of Agriculture began to accept safety assessment and approval for genetically modified plants, animals, and microorganisms that were engaged in genetic engineering research, testing, environmental release, and commercial production in China, and conducted strict safety assessments on the commercial production of genetically modified organisms and their products. In 1999, the State Environmental Protection Administration issued the "China National Biosafety Framework", which proposed my country's policy system, regulatory framework, risk assessment, and risk management technical guidelines in biosafety. At the same time, relevant institutions were established, with seven or eight departments participating. On May 23, 2001, the State Council promulgated the "Regulations on the Safety Management of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms" in Order No. 304. In it, agricultural genetically modified organisms were defined, and production and processing were required to obtain a production license. Operations required a business license. Agricultural genetically modified organisms listed in the catalogue must be clearly marked and labeled when sold in China. Corresponding regulations were made for imports and exports. All genetically modified organisms exported to China and the raw materials for processing require a genetically modified organism safety certificate issued by China. If they do not meet the requirements, they must be returned or destroyed. In March 2002, the Ministry of Agriculture issued three supporting management measures. In April 2002, the Ministry of Health also issued the "Regulations on the Hygienic Management of Genetically Modified Foods", which was implemented on July 1, 2002 and also required all genetically modified foods to be labeled. The implementation of the above work has enabled China's agricultural biological genetic engineering safety management to gradually move from scratch to a standardized management track, which has played an important role in promoting the healthy development of my country's agricultural biotechnology research, maintaining the development of my country's national biotechnology industry and the safety of genetically modified foods, and protecting the agricultural ecological environment and human health.
4. Australia and New Zealand
In July 2001, a labeling system was implemented for all genetically modified foods, with a value of 1% of each ingredient, that is: when the genetically modified ingredient in a certain ingredient exceeds 1%, it must be labeled as a genetically modified food.
5. Switzerland began to include genetically modified drugs in the labeling system in January 2000, making Switzerland the first country to include drugs in the genetically modified labeling system. "Zero allowance" is implemented for genetically modified organisms and their products. In March 2003, the Swiss Parliament passed a new law to implement "full compensation" for losses caused by genetically modified organisms and adopt the "polluter pays principle". Switzerland has not yet approved the commercial production of genetically modified organisms.
6. Brazil
A new labeling system was implemented in April 2003, requiring all genetically modified foods and food ingredients to be labeled at a value of 1% of each ingredient. However, genetically modified soybean products produced in Brazil after 2003 for human and animal consumption are labeled as "may contain genetically modified soybeans."
In general, the United States and Canada have relatively loose management of genetically modified plants. In 2000, the area of ​​genetically modified crops planted in the United States reached 30.3 million hm2, accounting for 70% of the world's genetically modified crop planting area that year. If Canada and Argentina are added, the genetically modified crops planted in these three countries account for 98% of the world's total. In sharp contrast, European countries, especially the United Kingdom, France, Germany, etc., have carried out extensive and in-depth research in the field of agricultural biotechnology in terms of research level, and have developed a number of genetically modified crops that can be used for production. But until now, there are still very few genetically modified crops planted as commodities in Europe, and it is difficult for European consumers to accept genetically modified foods.