On New Year's day, India joined a select band of countries where food containing genetically modified (GM) content must be labelled as such. But it has done so without any preparation.
The labelling of foods with GM ingredients has been a long-held demand of consumer groups, but the way it has been done in India has left them disappointed.
The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, which came into effect on January 1, say "every package containing the genetically modified food shall bear at the top of its principal display panel the letters 'GM'."
Consumer rights activist Bejon Misra said of the move: "It is a good step, but it is being done without any preparation at all. We don't know how this rule will be implemented or how it will be applied to products with GM content that are being imported or how the violators be prosecuted."
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