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The vexing issue of honey containing GM pollen in Europe
In 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued an opinion in Bablok v. Freistaat Bayern (1). The ECJ ruled that pollen, under EU law, must be considered an “ingredient” rather than a “constituent” of honey. As a consequence of this ECJ ruling, European honey producers and their international counterparts faced many complications in complying with ingredient labelling regulations and with international standards defining honey as a single ingredient, all-natural substance, i.e., simply honey. The ECJ ruling had the potential of destroying the European honey industry and to block imports from third countries (2, 3). Although urgent European Commission (EC) action was thus required, it took more than 2 years before it happened.
In January 2014, the European Parliament (EP) voted 430 to 224 to adopt an EC proposal amending the EU Honey Directive 2001/110/EC so that pollen is a constituent, not an ingredient, of honey (4). According to EU legislation, there is a huge difference between an ingredient and a constituent. An ingredient is part of a mixture and, as far as GMOs are concerned, would be subject to GMO labelling regulations. Thus, GMO maize pollen, as an ingredient, would require labelling if present at greater than 0.9% of the total maize pollen. In contrast, if honey is a natural entity – and pollen is a constituent of honey – then the GMO labelling requirement is calculated as a % of total honey. Pollen comprises between 0.005 and 0.05% of honey and thus labelling would never be required. After this vote, the EC still must take additional steps to finalize their proposal, now endorsed by the Parliament, into EU law. Assuredly the EC will take these additional steps. Thus, the EJC decision has been overturned by statutory and regulatory revision. The European honey industry has been saved from most legal complications and from potential destruction.
Despite the clarification that, in the EU, pollen is a constituent of honey, not an ingredient, there are several issues that remain unresolved about honey and pollen. This article identifies and discusses these unresolved issues…
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Source: http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-vexing-issue-of-honey-containing-gm.html
