Bucharest, Romania
February 29, 2008
USDA/FAS GAIN Report Number: RO8002
Report Highlights:
The proposal advanced by 9
members of Parliament to impose special labeling on biotech
foods was rejected this week by the Romanian Senate. The
proposal has been forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies,
which is the decisional chamber. Considering the lack of
support expressed by the Romanian Government and three
Senate Committees for this initiative, it is unlikely the
draft law will be adopted by the Romanian Parliament.
Last September, several members of
the Romanian Parliament proposed a draft law for labeling
products containing genetically modified ingredients. According
to the proposal, the label would contain the warning “Attention
this product contains genetically modified organisms” written in
black color inside a yellow spot. This warning should cover 30%
of the total surface of the product.
Following the legal provisions, the Romanian Government (GOR)
analyzed this proposal and strongly rejected it. In its position
paper, GOR recognized all the EU bodies with responsibilities in
the assessment of risks that biotech foods might have on human
health, animal health and environment protection, as a guarantee
for food safety. In addition, the EU biotech regulations on
traceability and labeling have already been transposed into
Romanian legislation, so adopting parallel national legislation
would breach the provisions of the EU Treaty.
The proposal was further examined by three Committees of the
Roma nian Senate, Committee on Agriculture and Rural
Development, Committee on Public Health and Committee on Human
Rights. All three declined the initiative on grounds related to
the existing biotech provisions. Despite the unfavorable
position expressed by the Senate Committees, according to the
legislative procedure, the draft-law is still debated in the
plenary. In mid February this year, the proposal was rejected by
63% of the Senators.
The draft law will now be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies,
which can adopt it or reject it. Nevertheless, given the
well-justified opposition expressed by the Romanian Government
and Senate, it is unlikely the law will be passed. |
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