GCC countries to introduce regulations on GM foods
27/8/2008 17:11
Six Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC) countries will introduce regulations
on genetically modified (GM) foods to control their entry into GCC markets,
local newspaper Gulf News reported today.
"The GCC countries will develop
regulations through independent statutory bodies with the power to ban releases
of genetically modified foods until agreed standards have been met," Mariam
Harib Sultan Al Yousuf, a senior official on food control of the UAE's largest
emirate of Abu Dhabi, was quoted as saying.
Control of gene technology should
not be left to scientists and commercial organizations, said Yousuf, who is also
the executive director of policy and regulation at the Abu Dhabi Food Control
Authority.
"By the end of this year, the GCC countries will come up with a
system under which the placing of genetically modified crops on these countries'
markets will require a regulatory approval supported by a thorough safety
evaluation, which will be applied to all GM crops before they enter our
markets," the official added.
The first major GM food was introduced on the
market in the mid- 1990s and there have been continuous controversies over the
safety of GM foods.
Xinhua
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