Paris, France
November 3, 3009

Ministère de l’Écologie, de l’Énergie du Développement durable et de la Mer,  en charge des Technologies vertes et des Négociations sur le Climat
Ministère de l’Economie, de l’Industrie et de l’Emploi
Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche
Ministère de l’Alimentation, de l’Agriculture et de la Pêche

Jean-Louis BORLOO, ministre d’Etat, ministre de l’Ecologie, de l’Energie, du Développement durable et de la Mer, Christine LAGARDE, ministre de l’Economie, de l’Industrie et de l’Emploi, Valérie PECRESSE, ministre de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, Bruno LE MAIRE, ministre de l’Alimentation, de l’Agriculture et de la Pêche, Hervé NOVELLI, secrétaire d’Etat chargé du Commerce, de l’Artisanat, des PME, du Tourisme, des Services et de la Consommation, et Chantal JOUANNO, secrétaire d’Etat chargée de l’Ecologie, ont pris connaissance de l’avis du Haut Conseil des biotechnologies, qu’ils avaient saisi conjointement le 15 juin dernier sur la définition des filières dites « sans OGM ». L’Etat remplit ainsi son engagement d’établir cette définition dans la plus grande concertation entre les acteurs concernés.

Il s’agit du premier avis du Haut Conseil des biotechnologies instauré par la loi du 25 juin 2008. Le Haut Conseil, composé d’un comité scientifique et d’un comité économique, éthique et social, est une structure novatrice et unique en Europe qui a été souhaitée par tous les acteurs du Grenelle Environnement. Constitué par décret en décembre 2008, il a été mis en place en avril 2009.

Les membres du comité économique, éthique et social, sa présidente et son vice-président, ont su tirer des conclusions précises de débats constructifs. Cette définition constitue un élément clé de l’application de la loi du 25 juin 2008, qui garantit la « liberté de consommer et de produire avec ou sans OGM ». A ce titre le Gouvernement adresse ses félicitations à l’ensemble des membres du Haut Conseil.

Sur la base de cet avis, le gouvernement préparera un projet de décret définissant l’étiquetage des produits provenant des filières sans OGM afin de permettre au consommateur et au producteur d’exercer leur libre choix. Il engagera parallèlement les autres travaux nécessaires pour définir les modalités de coexistence des filières. Ces textes d’application seront également soumis pour avis au Haut Conseil des biotechnologies.

Consultez l'avis sur le site http://ogm.gouv.fr
 

Paris, France
November 16, 2009

USDA/FAS GAIN report FR 9032

Report Highlights:

The French High Biotech Council, in charge of advising the French Government on a wide range of biotech issues and composed of a scientific committee and a socio-economic committee, released its first report defining biotech-free production. The report includes recommendations to label products with "GMO-free" when containing less than 0.1 percent transgenic DNA for plant products, and for animal products derived from animals fed on less than 0.1 percent biotech feed. Based on this recommendation, the French government will prepare a decree to regulate "GMO-free" labeling in 2010, subject to public comment. The substance of this regulation will depend on the biotech and non-biotech coexistence framework the French government aims to set in 2010.

General Information:

On October 26, the French High Biotech Council (HBC) released its first report defining biotech-free production, per the request of the French Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, and Consumer Affairs. The HBC, in charge of advising the French Government on a wide range of biotech issues, was formed last April, in accordance with the French Biotech law of June 2008. It has a dual assessment component composed of two committees, one focusing on scientific elements and the other on economic, ethical, and social issues. The previous authorities, the Genetic Engineering Committee, the Biomolecular Engineering Committee, and the Biotech Monitoring Committee, composed solely of of scientists, were disbanded by the GOF in 2007 in lieu of a process that gives social stakeholders a voice and address societal concerns.

In its October 26 report, available on the inter-ministerial website on biotechnology at http://www.ogm.gouv.fr, the HBC details biotech-free conditions for three categories of products:

• For plant products, the HBC recommended that a “GMO-free” label be attributed to products containing less than 0.1 percent transgenic DNA.
• For animal products, the HBC recommended that the label “fed on GMO-free feed” or “derived from animals fed without GM feed” be reserved to products derived from animals fed on feed containing less than 0.1 percent transgenic DNA.
• For apiculture products, the HCB recommended that “biotech-free” label be based on a minimum distance between the apiary and fields of biotech crops, to be set by public authorities.

Currently, some inter-ministerial work is being conducted within the French Government to prepare a decree to be published in the French Official Journal in the next weeks, fully or partially based on the HBC’s recommendations. Under current French regulation, biotech-free labeling was almost technically infeasible, because the French authorities required a threshold as low as 0.01 percent. There is no European regulation on biotech-free labeling. A number of French food companies (for example, companies producing high-quality free-range chickens) are likely to welcome such a regulation with a 0.1 percent threshold, which would allow them to publicize their efforts towards biotech-free products, make it a marketing tool, and thus justifying the higher than average prices of their products.

Comment: Interestingly, the HBC’s report appears inconsistent considering that food and feed products containing processing aids, additives and flavors prepared from biotech products, could benefit from a “GMO-free” labeling, which one may consider misleading.

Next steps: With the HBC’s report in hand, the French Ministries of Ecology, Agriculture, and Economy are preparing a decree to be published in the Official Journal regulating “biotech-free” labeling. This decree is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2010, upon the HBC review, it is validated by the high administrative committee “Conseil d’Etat”, public consultation is conducted, and then the GOF notifies the European Commission of the new regulation.

The substance of the “biotech-free” labeling regulation will depend on the biotech and non biotech coexistence framework the French government aims to set in 2010, including isolation distances by specie: The lower the threshold for biotech-free labeling, the stricter the coexistence rules.

Website: http://www.fas.usda.gov/

Published: November 20, 2009