Food Traceability Report articles from March 2002

Food Traceability Report archives from March 2002

U.S. urges new work on traceability by Codex inspection committee.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The U.S. delegation was set to urge the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems to undertake new work on traceability when the CCFICS met Feb. 25-March 1 in Brisbane, Australia (a report on the CCFICS...

Traceability issue seen blocking Codex biotech safety principles.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A controversial proposal to allow regulators to use traceability as a risk management tool for biotech foods is likely to block approval of draft principles for risk analysis when the Codex Ad Hoc Task Force on Foods Derived from...

Groups seek postponement of China's biotech regulations.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A coalition of commodity trade associations has written President Bush urging him to seek postponement of China's new regulations on bioengineered foods, scheduled to take effect March 20. U.S. officials visited China last month for talks...

Canadian canola growers express concern about Chinese biotech rule.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Canadian officials and canola growers are trying to determine what effect new Chinese rules on bioengineered food will have on crop shipments to China, one of Canada's best canola customers. Kathryn McKinley, of Agriculture and Agri-Food...

Mexican biotech companies oppose corn segregation.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Biotech companies in Mexico are opposing attempts to segregate biotech corn imported into that country. Pressure to segregate corn has arisen from allegations that biotech varieties from the United States are contaminating native corn...

North Dakota researcher calculates costs of identity preservation.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An agricultural economist at North Dakota State University has calculated total marginal economic costs of identity preserved grains produced in the Northern Great Plains at $4.68 per bushel. Cole Gustafson surveyed IP crop producers to...

Canadian Parliament studies biotech food labeling.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Two Canadian House of Commons committees have held public hearings on labeling bioengineered food, with lawmakers considering whether regulations are needed or if a voluntary program would suffice. The Agriculture Committee met with...

Mexican authorities fear cost impact of biotech labeling.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Mexican authorities are resisting efforts by Greenpeace and other biotechnology opponents to require labeling of food products with transgenic ingredients. Health officials maintain that there is no health or safety reason for biotech...

Biotech foes urge reassessment of Brazil's labeling decree.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Biotech opponents are calling on the Brazilian government to tighten a federal decree calling for the labeling of all food products with greater than 4% transgenic content. The labeling decree was due to take effect last Dec. 31 but has...

Australia's agriculture chief pushes livestock ID scheme.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The head of Australia's agriculture department has warned that unless all livestock are tagged in a national identification system, the country will lose its competitive edge in world export markets. Department Secretary Mike Taylor told...

European Commission authorizes aid for beef origin labels.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The European Commission has authorized Germany to invest [euro]3.5 million this year in a new beef quality label aimed at restoring consumer confidence following the recent mad cow disease crisis. Access to the quality label will be open...

Tax cuts proposed to boost organic production in Europe.(natural food production)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Environmental, consumer and government organizations have called on the European Union to use tax breaks to increase organic food production in Europe. The European Environmental Bureau, a federation of national "green" organizations,...

New Zealand to release draft standard defining organic food.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Standards New Zealand, a government agency, will release a draft standard in May defining what constitutes organic food. The new standard has become necessary because the premium prices commanded by organic foods domestically and at...

Food scares drive organic food sales in Japan.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Widely-publicized food scares -- including mad cow disease and contaminated milk products -- combined with increased consumer awareness are driving Japanese consumers to buy organic produce in record numbers. In 2000, the international...

Organic milk production deemed feasible in Argentina.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Ten years of experimentation have led to the conclusion that organic milk production is feasible in Argentina despite a lack of federal subsidies. The land area dedicated to certified organic milk production in Argentina leapt from 5,500...

Quebec supports organic food promotion.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Quebec government has awarded C$300,000 to Equiterre, a non-profit organization that promotes organic foods to consumers. Agriculture Minister Maxime Arsenault noted in a statement last month that organic food is the fastest growing...

Codex member countries sharply divided on biotech traceability.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Codex member countries are sharply divided on the use of traceability as a risk management tool for bioengineered foods, based on comments submitted to the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology. The...

Biotech traceability needed to satisfy consumers, EC says.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Systematic traceability and labeling of bioengineered food is not safety related but provides consumers with "information that they clearly demand," the European Commission told the Codex Ad Hoc Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology....

Global industry federation opposes mandatory biotech labeling.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The International Council of Grocery Manufacturers Associations, a U.S.-based federation of industry groups in eight countries, has opposed mandatory labeling of bioengineered foods in comments submitted to the Codex Committee on Food...

Crop segregation urged for EU.(European Union)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Crop segregation urged for EU. European Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler told a Belgian audience in February that Europe risks being left behind in the booming biotechnology sector. He described Europe's current response to biotech...

Traceability proposals draw industry criticism.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Traceability proposals draw industry criticism. In a memo to the Spanish presidency of the EU, the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA) urged attention to its criticism of the European Commission's traceability and...

Australians change attitudes toward traceback.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Australians change attitudes toward traceback. A straw poll conducted on an Australian agricultural Web site has found that animal disease crises in Europe have fostered new attitudes toward traceback among Australian farmers. Having watched...

Brazilian biotech farmers face prosecution.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Brazilian biotech farmers face prosecution. Brazil's agriculture minister said last month that nine farmers in the country's southern region may face prosecution for the illegal planting and sale of bioengineered soybeans. Material collected...

India contemplates biotech food crop.(rapeseed-mustard)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... India contemplates biotech food crop. Bioengineered rapeseed-mustard will likely be India's first biotech food crop, according to Yahoo! India Finance Report. Genes for several desirable traits in the mustard plant have already been...

French panel endorses biotech sugar beets.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... French panel endorses biotech sugar beets. A French government advisory panel said last month that bioengineered sugar beet poses very little risk of contaminating other crops and so can be considered safe to grow on a wider basis. The report...

EnviroLogix Inc. rises to meet the StarLink challenge.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... EnviroLogix Inc., an agricultural test kit manufacturer based in Portland, Maine, has come into its own in response to the StarLink corn contamination incident. Like rival company Strategic Diagnostics Inc., with which it shares some...

Chemical use data management.(from ExtendAg)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Chemical use data management. The ExtendAg Chemical Compliance system assists food processors in managing chemical usage records from growers in order to track where food comes from and how it was handled throughout the process. Chemical...

Roundup Ready soybean test.(EnviroLogix)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Roundup Ready soybean test. The EnviroLogix Roundup Ready QuickStix test for soybeans has been certified by USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration as meeting performance claims of detecting one Roundup Ready soybean in...

Training and certification for cattle producers.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Training and certification for cattle producers. The Five State Beef Initiative in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan is offering training and certification programs for cattle producers throughout the five-state region over the...

Animal tracking systems.(from eMerge Interactive Inc.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Animal tracking systems. eMerge Interactive, Inc. launched two new CattleLog individual-animal data-collection and reporting products last month: CattleLog ME and CattleLog LT. The CattleLog system is designed to help cattle operations source...

Can organic and biotech agriculture co-exist?(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A European Commission official recently wondered aloud whether an agriculture based on biotechnology could "co-exist peacefully" with non-biotech and organic agriculture. Peaceful coexistence implies maintaining an equilibrium of forces...

How to meet a soybean IP standard.(Canadian Soybean Export Association identity preservation standard)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Canadian Soybean Export Association has published an identity preservation standard that outlines quality system specifications for accreditation by the Canadian Grain Commission. The IP standard covers seed standards, planting, harvest,...

UPCOMING EVENTS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... March 7 IP Management Conference. Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Information: http://www.oaft.org March 13-15 4th Annual Food Safety Summit. Washington, DC. Information: http://www.foodsafetysummit.com. 978-475-4441 March 18-19...