萬國法律事務所

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that from June 1, all packaged foods, food additives, and bulk foods containing genetically modified (GM) food ingredients will require mandatory labeling. These foods will have be labeled as GM products or as containing GM ingredients in the future.

In comparison to current specifications on genetically modified food labeling, these revisions focus on the following items: First, the scope of implementation has been expanded from covering only packaged foods to now include food additives and bulk foods. Second, products containing “genetically modified food ingredients” “or genetically modified food additive ingredients” approved by the central authorities must be labeled as “genetically modified” or “genetically modified ingredients included.” Third, non-genetically modified food ingredients unintentionally containing more than 3% of genetically modified food ingredients are viewed as genetically modified food ingredients and must be labeled as “genetically modified.” This is stricter than the current stipulation of 5%.

The new regulations will be applied to packaged foods and food additives with effect from December 31, 2015. However, official implementation is expected to take place on January 1, 2016. Because the aspects of bulk food sales are complex, the portions of the Act that address bulk food will be implemented in three stages based on targets and items.