Brussels, 06/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has informed Member States that two varieties of cottonseed oils derived from genetically modified cotton lines are to be placed on the EU market under the "Novel Food" Regulation (Regulation 258/97/EC concerning new food and food ingredients).
The placing on the market of these two genetically modified foodstuffs, notified to the Commission by the United Kingdom, received a favourable opinion from the United Kingdom Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) after thorough evaluation of their equivalency with conventional products regarding their composition, nutritive value, metabolism, the use they are intended for and the level of undesirable substances they may contain.
These products therefore meet to conditions as specified by Article 3.4 of the New Food Regulation for placing on the market of such foodstuffs. The scientific analysis having established that neither of these two oils contain any trace of transgenic DNA or protein, these products will therefore be labelled as being derived from a GMO as soon as the proposed regulation on GM food and GM feed enters into force. The proposal is awaiting second reading in the European Parliament.
In a press release, the Commission recalls that, for now, genetically modified cotton as such is not grown in the EU nor can it be imported for cultivation or processing in the Union.