By Kim Se-jeong
The government's new rules on genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling on products which will go into effect Saturday is raising concerns about consumer rights.
Particularly controversial are two clauses in the rules revised by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
First, the new regulation will require all food companies using processed GMO crops to mention that on the product labels. But it will allow an exception which will cover pretty much all cooking oil, soy sauce and corn syrup makers.
The ministry's logic is this: Unless the final product shows traces of GMOs, GMO labeling is unnecessary.
Consumers voiced their disagreement.
"Consumers want information about crops that were originally used," said Kim Young-mi from iCOOP, a consumer rights activist group, "not the information after processing."
Consumers and activists have demanded the government change this clause, but big food companies have also long pressured the government to keep it.
Another controversial point is the "non-GMO" label requirement.
According to the ministry, food companies can now label products with crops that are grown naturally as "non-GMO." But it will not apply to all crops, only six crops which have GMO versions — corn, soybeans, sugar beets, rapeseed, alfalfa and cotton. Rice, for example, is not applicable to this rule because the Korean market has no GMO rice.
The ministry said this will give companies using non-GMO crops an advantage in marketing, but Kim disagreed.
"In reality, GMOs and natural crops get mixed in trade and food production, and business people often do not know this," Kim said. "If one producer stands out to say, non-GMO, and turns out to be wrong, it will get punished. It would be safer to stay silent."
Heavily relying on imported crops for food, Korea is the world's top importer of GMO crops. The amount of imports has increased over the last two decades as GMOs have become a global trend.
Talks on GMOs began in Korea in 1999 when authorities found GMO soybeans were made into tofu and widely sold. The government came to announce six GMO crops to be allowed on the market — sugar beets, rapeseed, cotton, corn, soybeans and alfalfa.
The government also set up rules on how to identify GMOs on product labels in 2001. The government wanted to make the rules stricter, but it was blocked by food companies.
Like Korea, more countries struggle to give consumers accurate information about GMOs. The ongoing debate on GMO safety makes this effort more challenging.
In Korea, authorities often say because the Korean public is quite skeptical about GMO safety, they are reluctant to make information open and free.
"That's nonsense," Kim said.
The government's new rules on genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling on products which will go into effect Saturday is raising concerns about consumer rights.
Particularly controversial are two clauses in the rules revised by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
First, the new regulation will require all food companies using processed GMO crops to mention that on the product labels. But it will allow an exception which will cover pretty much all cooking oil, soy sauce and corn syrup makers.
The ministry's logic is this: Unless the final product shows traces of GMOs, GMO labeling is unnecessary.
Consumers voiced their disagreement.
"Consumers want information about crops that were originally used," said Kim Young-mi from iCOOP, a consumer rights activist group, "not the information after processing."
Consumers and activists have demanded the government change this clause, but big food companies have also long pressured the government to keep it.
Another controversial point is the "non-GMO" label requirement.
According to the ministry, food companies can now label products with crops that are grown naturally as "non-GMO." But it will not apply to all crops, only six crops which have GMO versions — corn, soybeans, sugar beets, rapeseed, alfalfa and cotton. Rice, for example, is not applicable to this rule because the Korean market has no GMO rice.
The ministry said this will give companies using non-GMO crops an advantage in marketing, but Kim disagreed.
"In reality, GMOs and natural crops get mixed in trade and food production, and business people often do not know this," Kim said. "If one producer stands out to say, non-GMO, and turns out to be wrong, it will get punished. It would be safer to stay silent."
Heavily relying on imported crops for food, Korea is the world's top importer of GMO crops. The amount of imports has increased over the last two decades as GMOs have become a global trend.
Talks on GMOs began in Korea in 1999 when authorities found GMO soybeans were made into tofu and widely sold. The government came to announce six GMO crops to be allowed on the market — sugar beets, rapeseed, cotton, corn, soybeans and alfalfa.
The government also set up rules on how to identify GMOs on product labels in 2001. The government wanted to make the rules stricter, but it was blocked by food companies.
Like Korea, more countries struggle to give consumers accurate information about GMOs. The ongoing debate on GMO safety makes this effort more challenging.
In Korea, authorities often say because the Korean public is quite skeptical about GMO safety, they are reluctant to make information open and free.
"That's nonsense," Kim said.
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