On Dec. 21, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law (NBFDS), passed by Congress in July of 2016, directed USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) to establish this national mandatory standard for disclosing foods that are or may be bioengineered. The Standard requires food manufacturers, importers and certain retailers to ensure bioengineered foods are appropriately disclosed.
“The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard increases the transparency of our nation’s food system, establishing guidelines for regulated entities on when and how to disclose bioengineered ingredients. This ensures clear information and labeling consistency for consumers about the ingredients in their food,” said Secretary Perdue. “The Standard also avoids a patchwork state-by-state system that could be confusing to consumers.”
The Standard defines bioengineered foods as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature. The implementation date of the Standard is Jan. 1, 2020, except for small food manufacturers, whose implementation date is Jan. 1, 2021. The mandatory compliance date is Jan. 1, 2022. Regulated entities may voluntarily comply with the Standard until Dec. 31, 2021.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) developed the List of Bioengineered Foods to identify the crops or foods that are available in a bioengineered form throughout the world and for which regulated entities must maintain records. The records will inform regulated entities on whether the food must have a bioengineered disclosure to be communicated to consumers. Regulated entities have several disclosure options: text, symbol, electronic or digital link, and/or text message. Additional options such as a phone number or web address are available to small food manufacturers or for small and very small packages.
The implementation of the Standard concludes a rulemaking process begun in July 2016. AMS gathered information needed to develop the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard and program, in part, through a public comment period. More than 14,000 comments were received and taken into consideration during the rulemaking process. Prior to this, AMS received more than 112,000 comments in response to 30 questions provided on the AMS website regarding establishment of the Standard.
In response, Steve Mister, president & CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) released the following statement:
“CRN welcomes the release of USDA’s Final Rule implementing the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS). The Final Rule advances transparency for consumers about the presence of bioengineered (BE) material in both food and dietary supplement products. It requires food manufacturers, importers, and other entities that label food for retail sale to disclose information about BE food and BE food ingredients. The BE disclosure issue is complex and USDA has struck a careful balance between empowering consumers to make informed decisions about the food and dietary supplement products they purchase while not creating unnecessary regulatory burdens or misleading warnings about these products.
“CRN submitted comments to the Agricultural Marketing Service regarding the NBFDS in July. CRN encouraged the AMS to develop a uniform standard and national system for BE disclosure to allow food manufacturers to provide consistent information regarding BE foods and we offered recommendations on several specific items unique to dietary supplements and functional food. The final Standard closely aligns with CRN’s comments and incorporates many of those suggestions.
“CRN is also pleased that the timing of this Final Rule allows companies to implement these requirements at the same time they are finalizing FDA’s mandated changes to theSupplement Facts and Nutrition Facts labeling. The implementation date of January 2020 will allow companies to make all these changes at once, thus reducing compliance costs of two separate mandates. CRN is optimistic that this ruling will create a better and more transparent system for consumers.”
For more information, visit www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/21/2018-27283/national-bioengineered-food-disclosure-standard.
