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September, 2006 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India |
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Labelling Of GM Products Delayed
The Centre’s plan to regulate imports of genetically modified products is now in oblivion.
Bureaucratic delays in the health and environment ministries, relating to the finalisation of necessary guidelines, has held up the implementation of notification of the commerce ministry calling for mandatory labelling of imported GM products.
In April, the government made changes in the foreign trade policy, making labelling of imported GM products mandatory. The concerned importer was liable to a penal action under Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 if the the imported GM products were found unlabelled.
This notification was, however, kept in abeyance till July 7, 2006 to give time to the concerned ministries and government agencies to finalise the necessary guidelines. The health ministry took up the onus of formulating guidelines for labelling of GM food, leaving the issue of labelling other non-food GM items to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), which is under the environment ministry.
The GEAC, however, took some initiative to formulate some interim rules for imports of GM soyabean oil. The environment ministry has said that in future, it will not regulate GM food as the exercise is likely to be taken up by the proposed food authority, to be set up once the Food Safety & Standards Bill is enacted into law.
Date: 07-Jul-2006
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