May 11, 2000 / Western Producer / Barry Wilson / Ottawa bureau
Canadian Alliance MPs were cited as saying during an all-day House of
Commons debate last week that mandatory labeling for food containing
genetically altered material would cost the food system billions of dollars
and sharply reduce farm incomes.
British Columbia Canadian Alliance MP Reed Elley was cited as saying the
accounting firm KPMG had studied the potential cost of such a scheme in
Australia and New Zealand and concluded the cost of mandatory labeling to
the food industry would be $3 billion in the first year and $1.5 billion in
each subsequent year, adding, "This amounts to a six percent tax on all food
products."
Elley was futher cited as saying that such a food price hike to pay for the
segregation, testing and monitoring costs would alienate many consumers and
also would increase government meddling in the industry, adding, "I am led
to believe that mandatory labeling of all genetically modified organisms
leads to a food supply that is overregulated by bureaucrats and subject to
the whims of government," and that voluntary labeling of GMO-free products
would be a better solution.
(posted without permission)
