MEPs support European Commission on GM honey

MEPs support European Commission on GM honey

The European Parliament is supporting moves to amend the European Union's regulation of honey containing pollen from genetically modified crops. MEPs voted in favor of a European Commission proposal to define pollen as a natural constituent of honey, rather than an ingredient, Agrow reports. The Commission proposed the change in response to a court ruling in 2011 that honey containing GM pollen requires authorization and it disagreed with the court's interpretation that pollen is an ingredient and thus has to be listed on labels (see FCN, Nov. 1, 2013, Page 12).

Defining pollen as a natural component means that honey would be subject to EU labeling legislation on the accidental presence of GM material. However, labeling would only be required if the GM pollen made up more than 0.9 percent of the honey. Since pollen only forms approximately 0.5 percent of any batch of honey, it would never exceed the labeling threshold, said the Parliament's rapporteur, UK Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Julie Girling. Her report was adopted by 430 votes to 224, with 19 abstentions. The Commission's proposals now require agreement from the EU's member states. agra-net