Global rules for GM foods. (The Beat).

Members of the Codex International Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology agreed at their March 2002 meeting that genetically modified foods should be subject to premarket safety assessments on a case-by-case basis, and that nations should be allowed to trace such foods as part of their risk management strategies. Tracing systems give regulators the ability to withdraw such products from the market if they are later found to cause adverse health effects. The agreement bolsters efforts by the European Union to introduce tracing systems and will be submitted for adoption to the Codex Alimentarius Commission at its July 2003 meeting. The commission sets voluntary but highly influential international standards for all areas of food production and regulation.