New rules on GM foods to take effect in Taiwan in 2016

Want China Times, CNA 2014-06-21

Organic soybeans, left, and genetically modified soybeans, right.
(File photo/ Chou Hsiao-ting)

Taiwan has tightened its regulations on labeling products made from genetically modified substances and will begin carrying out the new rules in 2016, the Food and Drug Administration announced Friday.

The new regulations, which cleared the legislature on Feb. 5 as part of an amendment to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, extended requirements for labeling of products containing genetically modified substances to unpackaged food and food additives.

They will take effect in stages beginning on Jan. 1, 2016, the administration said.

Such labeling will be required for products in which genetically modified substances account for at least 3% of the products' total contents, which is stricter than the 5% threshold in the existing act, the administration said.

The new labeling rules will not apply, however, to soy sauce, soy oil, corn syrup and corn starch because they are highly processed items that no longer contain DNA fragments of soybeans or corn needed to determine if the products contain genetically modified substances, the agency said.