By: Clover Chang, U.S. Grains Council Director in Taiwan

Taiwan continues to develop regulations to implement the January 2014 amendments to its Food Sanitation Law. The proposed regulations include provisions requiring registration, labeling and traceability for food products containing ingredients derived from genetically modified (GM) crops.

One key issue has been the threshold level for GM labeling, with some advocates calling for adoption of the Japanese standard of 5 percent, while others call for adoption of the EU’s trade-inhibiting 0.9 percent standard.

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration has engaged stakeholders in meetings with a majority of participants opposing the 0.9 percent standard as unrealistic. A compromise 3 percent standard is now under consideration. This threshold would apply to both GM foods and food additives.

Also, proposed was the labeling of processed foods made from GM corn and soybeans, even if the processed product does not contain transgenic material. This proposal has been rejected by the TFDA advisory group, and at this point labeling will apply only to products actually containing GM proteins.

With regard to GM food products in bulk packaging (without individual package), the adjustment would exempt from mandatory labeling requirements food sold by small stores, small stands at wet markets, and street vendors. For such GM food products, mandatory labeling would be required only for food sold by registered commercial companies.

The U.S. Grains Council continues to monitor these developments and to work with other stakeholders for regulations that do not inhibit trade, impose excessive costs on food manufacturers and/or increase costs to consumers.