“Hungary is a flag-bearer in the European Union for initiatives and programmes aimed at achieving a GMO-free protein supply”, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Parliamentary State Secretary said at one of the professional conferences held during the National Agriculture and Food Industry Exhibition and Fair (OMÉK).
Deputy Agriculture Minister István Nagy pointed out that the GMO-free labelling introduced in Hungary represents both an informative and a market-creating function. An animal product with the GMO-free label means that the given farm animal consumed only GMO-free feed, while in the case of plant products the label means that the product does not contain genetically modified organisms.
“The GMO-free label is fundamentally an opportunity for food producers, not an obligation”, the Deputy Minister stressed. The Ministry of Agriculture also submitted the GMO-free label as a trademark in recent days, meaning increased safety for both consumers and producers.
“In 2013, the Ministry launched the National Protein Programme to increase the ratio of excellent quality, GMO-free protein. One of the key areas of the programme is the increasing of GMO-free soy production and usage in Hungary, meaning that in future the GMO-free label could become one of the important elements of the realisation of Hungary’s protein strategy”, Mr. Nagy highlighted.
The Deputy Minister stressed that Europe’s agriculture and food production industry needs a new and comprehensive protein policy that makes better use of domestic resources and counterbalances the high level of dependence on GMO soy beans imported from abroad in foods and animal feeds.