Changes in food-labelling legislation in the United States appear to have positive implications for New Zealand agriculture.
All food labelling laws will soon be based on recently enacted Vermont law that requires food companies to indicate if the product contains genetically engineered or modified ingredients.
In a report for ASB, Prof William Bailey, from Western Illinois University, said about 80% of food sold in the US contained GM ingredients, so the changes clearly affected a broad part of the US food system.
The move was consistent with a significant change in the food industry over the past decade - consumer interest in food had moved down the food chain, Prof Bailey said.
The US grocery manufacturing body failed to get the Vermont law overturned, then
the US Congress passed a law mandating a national labelling system for GM disclosure on food products.
Given that legislation, Prof Bailey questioned how far down the food chain mandatory labelling might go.
Since 70% of US pig production and 80% of chicken broilers were produced in confinement operations - unpopular with many consumers - he asked whether government labelling might be required to assure use of humane animal production techniques.
If the US Government broadened its labelling requirements, product costs would increase and product prices would rise, opening the door for GM-free New Zealand products, he said.
''New Zealand's production system was much more transparent than in the US, with no GM production and more of a focus on unprocessed or minimally processed foods,'' he said.
''The clean and green export message from the last decade translates into a much less intrusive agricultural production environment in New Zealand than most other export-oriented countries.
''As a consequence, as labelling requirements move down the food chain toward the paddock, New Zealand agriculture is in an excellent position to respond quickly, positively and profitably to those changes,'' he said.
