Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the traceability and labelling of Genetically Modified Organisms and traceability of food and feed products produced from Genetically Modified Organisms and amending Directive 2001/18/EC amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2003-07-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal nutrition, consumer protection, environmental protection, foodstuff, genetically modified organism, human nutrition, labelling, marketing

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 18.07.2003
COM(2003) 461 final

2001/0180 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

CONCERNING THE TRACEABILITY AND LABELLING OF GENETICALLY
MODIFIED ORGANISMS AND TRACEABILITY OF FOOD AND FEED
PRODUCTS PRODUCED FROM GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AND
AMENDING DIRECTIVE 2001/18/EC

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

2001/0180 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

CONCERNING THE TRACEABILITY AND LABELLING OF GENETICALLY
MODIFIED ORGANISMS AND TRACEABILITY OF FOOD AND FEED
PRODUCTS PRODUCED FROM GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AND
AMENDING DIRECTIVE 2001/18/EC

1.

BACKGROUND

The  Commission  forwarded  the  above  proposal  for  a  regulation  based  on
Article 175(1) to the Parliament and to the Council on 17 August 2001.

The  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  delivered  its  opinion  on  21  March
2002.

The Committee of the Regions delivered its opinion on 16 May 2002

The European Parliament adopted an opinion at first reading on 3 July 2002.

The  Commission  accepted  some  of  the  Parliament’s  amendments.  It  submitted  an
amended  proposal 
these
amendments.

the  Council  on  13 September  2002 

including 

to 

The Council adopted its Common Position by qualified majority on 17 March 2003.

On  2  July  2003,  the  European  Parliament  adopted  6  amendments  to  the  Council’s
Common Position at second reading.

This  opinion  presents  the  Commission’s  position  on  the  European  Parliament’s
amendments pursuant to Article 251(2)(c) of the EC Treaty.

2.

PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The  Proposal  lays  down  the  following  requirements  to  ensure  a  harmonised
Community  framework  for  traceability  and  labelling  of  genetically  modified
organisms  (GMOs)  and  traceability  of  food  and  feed  produced  from  GMOs  at  all
stages of their placing on the market:

– 

Operators shall have in place systems and procedures to identify to whom and
from whom products are made available.

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– 

– 

Operators  shall  transmit  specified  information  concerning  the  identity  of  a
product in terms of the individual GMOs (unique codes) it contains or whether
it is produced from GMOs.

Operators shall retain specified information for a period of 5 years and make it
available to competent authorities on demand.

The  objective  of  this  framework  is  to  facilitate  accurate  labelling,  environmental
monitoring and withdrawals of products.

3.

COMMISSION OPINION ON THE PARLIAMENT’S AMENDMENTS

3.1.

Summary of the Commission’s position

Six  amendments  (or  parts  of)  were  adopted  and  the  Commission  can  accept  these
amendments in full. The Commission considers that the  amendments  provide some
clarification of its Proposal but do not alter its substance.

3.2.

Parliament amendments at second reading

3.2.1. Amendment  3  -  introduces  a  new  recital  referring  to  reporting  obligations  for  the

Commission.

This reflects the obligation for the Commission to submit a report to the Council and
European  Parliament  on  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation  two  years  after  its
entry into force (Article 12).

3.2.2. Amendment 4 - introduces a new recital referring to the need for consumer choice.

This amendment is already partially represented in Recital 4 of the Common Position
but  the  European  Parliament  required  that  clear  reference  be  made  to  consumer
choice in a single recital.

3.2.3. Amendments 8 and 13 (1st parts) - introduce the need for standardised procedures
for  the  holding  of  traceability  information  for  products  containing  GMOs  (Article
4(4) and products produced from GMOs 5(2).

As this information has to be transmitted between operators in writing (as introduced
by the Council in its Common Position), then it is logical that this documentation be
held so that its origin can be confirmed. It will be possible to expand on standardised
procedures for this purpose in the guidelines to be produced in the context of Article
9(2).

3.2.4. Amendment  17  (2nd  part)  -  introduces  the  need  to  publish  the  guidelines  to  be

produced for sampling and testing (Article 9(2)).

This amendment is self-explanatory.

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3.2.5. Amendment 18 - introduces reference to a central register in a new Article 9(2)(a).

Central registers will also have to be introduced under Directive 2001/18/EC and the
Proposal on GM Food and Feed. It is foreseen that these registers will contain very
similar if not identical information and will be closely inter-linked.

4.

CONCLUSION

Pursuant  to  Article  250(2)  of  the  EC  Treaty,  the  Commission  is  amending  its
Proposal as indicated above.

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