The FSSAI is bringing regulatory clarity on genetically modified foods. It has released draft regulations stating that no one can manufacture or sell any food products or food ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) without prior approval.
The draft has been released to seek stakeholder views after an inter-ministerial consultation process. This draft regulation outlines the procedure for prior approval as well as safety assessment and labelling norms. It also specifies norms that labs will need to adhere for testing GM foods.
The proposed regulations will apply to “Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or Genetically Engineered Organisms (GEOs) or Living Modified Organism (LMOs) intended for direct use as food or for processing.
The regulations’ ambit will include food products that may have been made using food ingredients or processing aids derived from GMOs, even if GM content is not present in the end-product.
The food safety authority has also said that Genetically Modified Organisms or Genetically Engineered Organisms “shall not be used as an ingredient” in infant food products.
The draft regulations stated, “No person shall manufacture, store, distribute, sell, or import into the country any food or food ingredient, as the case may be, derived from Genetically Modified Organisms, except with the prior approval of the Food Authority.” The provisions of this regulation are in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other rules or regulations made under the Act. “
The draft also proposes labelling norms for food products that contain one per cent or more than one per cent of GMO content. All food products having individual Genetically Engineered (GE) ingredient one per cent or more shall be labelled “Contains GMO/Ingredients derived from GMO,” the draftregulations stated.
The industry says that once the regulations are finalised, it will bring clarity to the regulatory status, especially when it comes to imported food products.
In order to ensure that only non-GM crops are imported into the country, the FSSAI announced last year that imports of 24 crops would be required to be accompanied by a “Non-GM, GM-Free” certificate beginning January 1.
However, after receiving some representations from stakeholders, it was postponed and these norms came into effect from March 1. The norms were laid down since FSSAI was in the process of finalizing the regulations.