Review of Labelling of Genetically Modified Foods

5.0 Background

5.1 What is a GM Food?

Gene technology uses recombinant DNA techniques to alter the heritable genetic material of living cells or organisms. This technology allows an organism to be altered in a specific and directed way, for example by introducing genetic material from another source. In recent years, gene technology has been used in the agricultural industry to genetically modify crops such as corn and soybeans. For instance, particular traits have been added to the plants’ genetic makeup to prevent insect and disease damage or reduce the need for pesticides. This may have the benefit of increasing the size of the crop that can be harvested from the same amount of land.

Foods derived from genetically modified plants and animals are generally referred to as GM foods. The term GM food applies to foods that contain GM ingredients and to food additives or processing aids produced using gene technology (ANZFA, 2000).

The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code provides for the regulation of GM foods in Australia and New Zealand in Standard 1.5.2. This standard is separated into two divisions. The first division contains the requirement for pre-market assessment of all GM foods, as outlined in the next section. The second division contains the requirements for the labelling of GM foods that apply once a GM food is approved for sale and use. Labelling of GM food is discussed in Section 6.

5.2 GM Food Safety Assessment

Division 1 of Standard 1.5.2 requires all food produced using gene technology to be subject to a pre-market safety assessment and approval before sale and use in Australia and New Zealand. FSANZ is responsible for carrying out the safety assessments under the Standard.

The Australian and New Zealand safety assessment process is based on the concepts and principles developed by international organisations such as World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also in line with the safety assessment guidelines adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. These principles and guidelines have been used to develop safety assessment processes for GM foods by a number of countries including Japan, Canada and members of the EU.
The framework for the assessment of GM foods in Australia and New Zealand considers:

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  the use of an inherently cautious, scientific, risk-based assessment process;
  
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  the need for case-by-case assessments;
  
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  the new genetic material, new proteins and other characteristics of the GM food;
  
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  intended and unintended effects of the genetic modifications; and
  
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  comparisons with conventionally produced foods (i.e. substantial equivalence) (ANZFA, 2000)
  

5.3 GM Foods Approved for Sale and Use in Australia and New Zealand

Under Standard 1.5.2, there are currently 21 GM varieties of crops approved for use in food in Australia and New Zealand. The major crops from which these GM varieties are derived are:

soybean	potato
canola	sugarbeet
corn	cotton

A full list of approved GM varieties is at Appendix C. The potential for processed foods to contain GM foods as defined in Standard 1.5.2 depends on a number of factors including the size of commercial plantings worldwide of GM crops, the extent to which manufacturers choose to source products derived from GM crops as food or ingredients for their products and the level of processing to which the GM food or ingredient is subjected (FSANZ 2003).

5.3.1 GM Foods Approved in Other Countries

There are a number of GM commodities that have been approved by overseas regulators that have not been approved in Australia and New Zealand. The sale and use of such food in Australia and New Zealand would be illegal under food legislation giving force to Standard 1.5.2. These GM foods include: flax, papaya, squash, tomato, cantaloupe, rice, chicory and radicchio as well as other GM varieties of corn, cotton, canola, soybean, sugarbeet and potato.

5.4 Other Organisations Involved in the Regulation of GM Organisms and Foods

Besides FSANZ, there are a number of other government organisations in Australia and New Zealand that are involved with the regulation of GM organisms (see table 5.1). However, their responsibilities encompass broader issues than foods such as the environment, enforcement of Standard 1.5.2, quarantine and the regulation of chemicals (ANZFA 2000). These organisations work together where products require the approval of several agencies.

Table 5.1

Activity	Government Agency
	Australia	New Zealand
Safety of Food	FSANZ	FSANZ
Enforcement of Standard 1.5.2	Health Departments in each State and Territory	New Zealand Food Safety Authority
Environmental issues (including live releases of genetically modified organisms)	The Gene Technology Regulator Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage State and Territory Departments of Primary Industries	Environmental Risk Management Authority Ministry for the Environment
Broader public health matters	The Gene Technology Regulator / Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee	Ministry of Health, Environmental Risk Management Authority
Imports and Exports	Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service The Gene Technology Regulator FSANZ Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage	Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Ministry of Health
Safety and regulation of insecticides or herbicides (including registration of insect protected crops, registration of herbicides used on herbicide tolerant crops, setting of residue limits in foods)	Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority Therapeutic Goods Administration Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage FSANZ	Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Ministry of Health
Other Issues	The Gene Technology Regulator	Environmental Risk Management Authority Ministry of Research Science and Technology