Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 164: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if she has satisfied herself that there is no risk of contamination from the importation of genetically modified foods or food products; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24991/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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In response to consumer concerns, the European Union's new regulatory framework for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) entered into force in 2004. Ireland, in common with other Member States and as required by EU rules, applies EU legislation on GM foods, produced within the EU or imported. Under EU rules, only authorised GM foods, or foods containing ingredients thereof, can be placed on the market. The safety of GM products is independently assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on a case by case basis and GM food is required to be clearly labelled, thus ensuring greater consumer confidence and choice.

In the production of food, feed and seed, it is almost impossible to achieve products that are 100% GM free. Minute traces of GMOs can arise in conventional food and feed during cultivation, harvest, transport and processing. Accordingly, to ensure legal certainty, thresholds have been established above which conventional foods must be labelled as consisting of or containing or being produced from a GMO. The labelling requirement is not for food safety reasons, rather a consumer choice measure and does not apply to foods with GM content in a proportion no higher than 0.9% of the food ingredients considered individually or food consisting of a single ingredient, provided that this presence is adventitious or technically unavoidable: previously, the level had been 1%. The new threshold applies to all GMOs authorised under the current Regulations and also applies to those authorised under the Novel Foods Regulation.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is the competent authority in Ireland for the enforcement of EU legislation regarding genetically modified (GM) foods: the FSAI carries out checks of the marketplace for compliance with the GM legislation.