C-257
First Session, Forty-first Parliament,
60 Elizabeth II, 2011
HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA
BILL C-257
An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (mandatory labelling for genetically modified foods)
first reading, June 23, 2011
NOTE
2nd Session, 41st Parliament
This bill was introduced during the First Session of the 41st Parliament. Pursuant to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, it is deemed to have been considered and approved at all stages completed at the time of prorogation of the First Session. The number of the bill remains unchanged.
Mr. Atamanenko
411301
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Food and Drugs Act to provide that the Minister of Health is responsible for establishing that a food or one or more of its components are genetically modified. Once this has been established, the Minister is required to have the name of the food published in the Canada Gazette. The Minister must also prepare a list of all such foods and have a copy sent at no cost to any person who requests it.
This food and food products containing this food cannot then be sold in a package unless a label containing the following notice is affixed to the package:
This product or one or more of its components have been genetically modified.
In addition, this food and food products containing this food cannot be sold without a package unless a sign in the prescribed form containing the following notice is posted near the food:
Genetically modified
Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:http://www.parl.gc.ca
1st Session, 41st Parliament,
60 Elizabeth II, 2011
house of commons of canada
BILL C-257
An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (mandatory labelling for genetically modified foods)
R.S., c. F-27
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
1. Section 2 of the Food and Drugs Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
“genetically modified”« modifié génétiquement »
“genetically modified”, with respect to a food or one of its components, means that the genetic make-up of the food or component has been modified by a technique that combines DNA fragments of the food or component with DNA fragments from another source in a way that could not occur without the use of modern technology;
2. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 7:
Genetically Modified Food
Duty of Minister
7.1 (1) The Minister is responsible for establishing, on the basis of scientific evidence, that a food or one or more of its components are genetically modified.
Publication in Canada Gazette
(2) As soon as the Minister declares that a food or one or more of its components are genetically modified, the Minister shall cause the name of the food to be published in the Canada Gazette.
List
(3) The Minister shall prepare a list of all foods whose names have been published in the Canada Gazette under subsection (2) and shall cause a copy to be sent at no cost to any person who requests it.
Internet
(4) The Minister shall cause an electronic version of the list to be posted on a site of the Government of Canada that is accessible online.
Access to 
the Internet
(5) The Minister shall ensure that an electronic version of any list posted online under subsection (4) is accessible, without a password, at no charge and in downloadable form.
Sale prohibited
7.2 Beginning on the sixteenth day following publication of the name of a food in the Canada Gazette under subsection 7.1(2), no person shall sell the food or a food product of which the food is a component in a package, unless a label in the prescribed form containing the following notice is affixed to the package:
This product or one or more of its 
components have been genetically 
modified.
Ce produit ou un ou plusieurs de ses composants ont été modifiés 
génétiquement.
Sale prohibited
7.3 Beginning on the sixteenth day following publication of the name of a food in the Canada Gazette under subsection 7.1(2), no person shall sell the food or a food product of which the food is a component without a package, unless a sign in the prescribed form containing the following notice is posted near the food:
Genetically modified
Modifié génétiquement
3. Subsection 30(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (e):
(e.1) respecting the form of the label referred to in section 7.2 and the sign referred to in section 7.3;
Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons