Detail

United States of America

Oilseeds, oils and meals

GM crops

01/12/2018

Other

GMO policy

Released detailed regulations for the labelling of food products that include genetically modified material, requiring food manufacturers, importers and certain retailers to ensure that bioengineered foods are appropriately disclosed via either text, symbol, electronic/digital link or text message. Highly processed ingredients from GM crops (such as refined vegetable oil) were exempted from the new labelling requirements.

Ending a rule making process that began in 2016 and included a public comment period (see also MPPU Aug.’16, Oct.’17 & Aug.’18), USDA has released detailed regulations for labelling food products that include genetically modified material. The new national standard requires food manufacturers, importers and certain retailers to ensure that ‘bioengineered’ foods are appropriately disclosed via either text, symbol, electronic/digital link or text message. Products with up to 5 percent inadvertent or technically unavoidable presence of bioengineered substances for each ingredient are exempt. The term ‘may be bioengineered’ cannot be used. Importantly, the final rule does not require labelling of highly refined ingredients from GM crops (such as refined vegetable oils, high fructose maize syrup and refined beet or cane sugar), provided no modified genetic material is detectable. Notwithstanding, manufacturers are allowed to make voluntary disclosures on such products in the interest of transparency, labelling their products as ‘derived from bioengineering’ (NB: voluntary bioengineered disclosure is not permitted for foods derived from animals fed bioengineered feed). In this regard, food industry representatives had favoured more comprehensive labelling requirements, arguing that excluding refined ingredients could confuse consumers and erode trust in brands and the technology. On a separate point, consumer advocacy groups remarked that the final rule does not define ‘non-GMO’ and thus does not provide guidance on when a food can be voluntarily labelled as ‘non-GMO’. The implementation date of the new standard is 1 January 2020 (or 1 January 2021 for small food manufacturers). However, compliance will become mandatory only on 1 January 2022. Regulated entities may voluntarily comply before that date. Businesses with annual sales below USD 2.5 million will be exempt from the new labelling requirements.