IN A bid to appease overseas buyers, maize and soybean exports from the US may soon come with a government stamp verifying that they have been kept separate from genetically modified products.
The US Department of Agriculture announced last week that it is considering setting up a voluntary certification scheme to help exporters trade with the European Union and other countries that oppose GM crops or require labelling of GM products. Some suppliers already have segregation procedures in place, but under the proposed system USDA officials would inspect suppliers to guarantee they are meeting standards.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to say that the product doesn鈥檛 contain any GMO,鈥� says USDA spokesman Jerry Redding. 鈥淲e鈥檒l only be certifying the process.鈥�
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The idea is that suppliers will be able to hire federal inspectors to review their methods for excluding GM materials, a process which would go all the way from planting through to harvesting, processing and transport. Earlier this year, the European Parliament voted for a far stricter and more elaborate system that would require suppliers to trace food from its source. Attacked by many as costly and impractical, it won鈥檛 become law unless it passes a further vote.
Anti-GM activist Jeremy Rifkin believes the USDA鈥檚 certification system will be of little consequence to suppliers or European importers. But he sees the move as the agency鈥檚 first official admission that separating GM crops is both feasible and worth doing. 鈥淭he USDA has been fighting this idea of segregation all along,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big concession. They鈥檙e realising that you can鈥檛 force someone to eat something they don鈥檛 want to eat.鈥�
Tom Slunecka, the director of development for the National Corn Growers Association, believes suppliers will find a certification system useful, though he鈥檚 not convinced the USDA should get involved. 鈥淏ut the concept of standardising, we believe, is a good way to go.鈥�