A report commissioned by the UK FSA (Food Standards Agency) was published recently to provide an understanding of how non-EU countries regulate novel foods and genetically modified organisms compared with the EU. Another goal of the report is to identify various approaches and understand how the regulatory differences affect trade. The first part of the report addresses the regulation of novel foods in the USA, Canada, Australia, and Japan and compares this against the EU system. Summary findings are that the USA and Japan have no regulatory concept for novel foods and don’t address these authorizations in legislation. Conversely, Canada and Australia have an approval system that is like that of the EU. Other parts of the report make similar comparisons of GMO regulation using the reference countries above with the addition Argentina and Brazil. The last section of the report discusses how international trade agreements can support regulations to minimize trade barriers.

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Picture Credit Susanne Kuehne

Posted on 23 September 2021