§ Lord Ponsonby of Shulbredeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans he has to introduce regulations for the enforcement of EC Regulation 1139/98 concerning the labelling of genetically-modified soya and maize. [HL1642]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Donoughue)On 18 March we laid before Parliament the Food Labelling (Amendment) Regulations 1999, which came into force on 19 March. These provide the means for local authorities to be able to enforce the EC regulation that requires all foods containing genetically modified soya or maize ingredients to be clearly labelled. This regulation, which took effect last September, applies to all foods produced and labelled from that date.
The Government are determined that consumers should be able to choose whether or not to eat genetically modified foods. This includes food sold in restaurants, cafes and takeaways and not just that available from supermarkets. The UK is the first member state in Europe to take steps to ensure that consumers eating out will have the same right to choose whether or not to consume foods containing GM ingredients as those buying from shops.
As a measure of how seriously the Government take the right of consumers to have clear, reliable information about the GM content of the food they buy, we have decided not to wait the customary 21 days for these regulations to come into force but to make them fully effective from 19 March.
A letter was sent on 18 March to interested parties advising them of the content of the regulations and enclosing a copy of the text. Further copies of 156WA the regulations are available from John Furzer or Raj Pal, MAFF, Room 239c, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR. In addition, the legislation can be viewed at MAFF's Website "http://www.maff.gov.uk./food/novel/labelreg. pdf". A regulatory impact assessment for the regulations has been prepared and placed in the Library of the House.