Taiwan's
Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it plans to tighten its
regulations on the compulsory labeling of food products containing genetically
modified (GM) ingredients, adopting the standards used by the European Union.
Compulsory
labeling will apply to food products that contain at least 0.9% of their weight
in GM ingredients, administration deputy chief Chiang Yu-mei told the media on
the sidelines of a legislative committee hearing.
The current
minimum level, based on the Act Governing Food Sanitation, is 5%, but "we
will follow the EU standard" and will notify the public of the planned
change by the end of December, she said.
After the
notification process, public opinion will be sought and scholars and experts
will discuss the plan, according to an FDA official responsible for public
affairs, implying that the change may not be implemented soon.
The
administration must be very cautious since such a change will affect many
businesses, the official said.
The food
sanitation act will also be amended to raise the maximum fine for false
labeling to NT$4 million (US$135,000)from the current NT$200,000, according to
the administration.
Taiwan
introduced the 5% minimum level regulation in 2001 and has not amended it since
then.
Currently,
Taiwan allows the importation of GM soybeans and corn.
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