Friday, August 17, 2012

Canada ready to unveil plan to ease trade of genetically modified foods

Canada is set to unveil to the world its proposal to permit traces of unapproved genetically modified organisms in imported foods, even as government officials admit they don’t trust all countries “equally” when it comes to how they approve use of the organisms.
The federal government’s draft plan for managing the low-level presence of GMOs in food and feed products, to be submitted to the World Trade Organization in September, will undergo more consultations in Canada.
The government’s initial proposal was to permit the presence of GMOs in food up to a maximum level of 0.1 per cent of any batch or lot tested – what it refers to as a “redefinition of zero” because it believes avoiding trace levels of GMOs altogether will become impossible over time.
Feedback from industry, organic producers and food experts during a first round of consultations raised many questions, internal records obtained by Postmedia News using access to information show.
The records also reveal concerns of government officials about how other countries manage their regulatory oversight of GMO crops.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/life/Canada+ready+unveil+plan+ease+trade+genetically+modified+foods/7095753/story.html

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