RIYADH, 10 October — Saudi Arabia has tightened restrictions on the imports of genetically modified foods and has asked local importers as well as exporting countries to use labels to identify such products amid growing concern in the United States and Europe about adverse effects of GM food on human health.
Experts from the United States, which exports foodstuffs worth $2 billion annually to the Kingdom, are reportedly striving to convince the concerned Saudi authorities to review the decision.
“Saudi policies with regard to the imports and local consumption of genetically modified foods are quite clear, which make it mandatory to have a labeling mechanism for all GM food to differentiate it from natural food products,” said Osama Faqeeh, minister of commerce, while inaugurating a seminar on genetically modified food here yesterday.
The two-day conference organized by Saudi Arabian Standards Organization will discuss the concept of GM food and its effects on human health and environment. There will be four working sessions of this seminar, which will also propose recommendations to assist local government agencies to formulate guidelines and review existing laws.
Referring to the significance of this international event on GMF, the first of its kind in Riyadh, Faqeeh and Dr. Fawaz Alamy, deputy commerce minister for technical affairs, said the seminar will examine the consequences of using GM food products and crops.
The SASO, they said, have already set up a Food Safety Committee, which has been evaluating the health hazards, if any, of such food products.
Dr. Khaled Al-Khalaf, SASO director general, said the committee has issued precautionary measures to be complied with while importing genetically modified food products.
In fact, Al-Khalaf said, the Kingdom through SASO is playing an important role in boosting the economy and raising the quality of the products to protect the market and safeguard the consumer interests.
He cited the conformity certificates issued prior to the shipment of goods as an example of SASO’s role in maintaining the quality of imported goods.
Asked about the establishment of a food and drug administration on the US model, Alamy and Al-Khalaf said that the plan to set up such a regulatory body is currently being studied by a ministerial committee.
They expressed the hope that the ministerial panel will shortly come out with some concrete proposals.
Dr. Khalaf also pointed out that the SASO will hold a huge marathon event toward the end of this year in cooperation with the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (GPYW), which is led by Prince Sultan ibn Fahd. The event is being organized to educate youths about the standard of products and commodities in the local market.
