Brussels, 16/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - It is unlikely that member states' experts will vote before January on the draft regulation on the 0.1% threshold for detection of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in fodder imported into the EU (see EUROPE 10244).
The Commission stance, debated for the first time in the Standing Committee on the EU Food Chain and Animal Health on Monday 15 November, “raised a number of issues for member states”, acknowledged Frédéric Vincent, spokesman for Health and Consumers Commissioner John Dalli. No vote was taken at this initial discussion. “It is more likely that the vote will take place in January than December,” he added.
Some member states wonder why this “technical zero” should apply to animal fodder but not to food for humans. To those who fear that the proposed regulation is seeking to bring in a tolerance threshold for traces of unauthorised GMOs in fodder imported into the EU (see EUROPE 10249), the Commission says that zero tolerance is still the order of the day for GMOs which have not been authorised in the EU.
Alongside zero tolerance there is a technical threshold of 0.1% (technical zero), below which there is no reproducible and reliable sampling method for detecting GMOs in a sample of grains for animal feeds. (A.N./transl.rt)