Model letter to your country representative on the Codex Committee on Food Labelling or National Codex Committee Contact Point

To [Title and name]

Head of delegation of [your country] to the Codex Committee on Food Labelling

Dear [Name]

I am writing to you on behalf of [name of organisation] to request that you press the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL)  to adopt international standards authorising mandatory comprehensive labelling of all foodstuffs containing GMO ingredients.

 [Name of organisation] has as its mission [brief account of your aims]. We are a member of  Consumers International, the world consumer organisation, who will have a delegation at the forthcoming CCFL meeting in Kota Kinabulu, Malaysia, from 9-13 May. 

 Labels give vital information about the ingredients in our food.  When products are appropriately labelled, consumers are able to make informed choices based on safety, environmental, ethical, religious or moral concerns. 

 We consider that a food, such as maize, that has had genetic material from viruses and bacteria added to it in the laboratory which cause a bacterial pesticide to be produced throughout the plant, is fundamentally different from conventional maize. Together with Consumers International we are convinced that a major change in food production such as genetic modification requires compulsory labelling because of the fundamental right of consumers to know what they are buying and eating.

 Therefore [your organisation name] representing consumers in [country name] calls upon you – as the government official representing our country – to participate in the CCFL meeting and to support Codex guidelines for the labelling of food containing GMOs.  

Discussions on these guidelines have been stalled at CCFL for the last three years.  It is time for the guidelines to move forward.   The current draft under discussion allows for three types of labelling approaches, which roughly reflect the approaches now in use in the European Union, in Japan, Korea and Australia, and in the United States.  We believe the current draft represents an extremely reasonable and useful compromise on this important issue.  It should not be split apart or restructured.

 Please urge CCFL to adopt the draft GMO labelling guideline.  We look forward to hearing from you about the action you will take on this important matter.

 Yours sincerely,

 XXXX [your name and position]

XXXX [your organisation name]

Member of SAFeAGE

Member of Consumers International