GlobalG.A.P. announces collaboration on GM labeling at Seafood Expo Global

GlobalG.A.P., a certification program that ensures sustainability in the entire supply chain of aquaculture projects, announced at Seafood Expo Global 2018 that it has created a non-genetically modified add-on in collaboration with VLOG e.v.

The new add-on is designed to allow producers that already meet GlobalG.A.P. standards to more quickly get the “VLOG seal,” which signifies that the producer has been certified as not using any genetically modified products. 

VLOG is based in Germany, and holds an exclusive license given by the German government to label food as non-genetically modified. The label was developed in response to consumer demand in Germany, where more than 8,000 foods have already been labeled with VLOG’s “Ohne GenTechnik/NO-GMO” label, signifying the product has no genetic modification. 

“This seal is owned by the German government, and we are exclusively giving the license,” VLOG Managing Director Alexander Hissting.

Hissting was on-hand at a press conference to talk about he recently signed agreement between his organization and GlobalG.A.P. Non-GM labeling is a big deal in Germany, he said, with 650 licenses on producers, with seal-bearing products representing of more than EUR 5.4 billion (USD 6.5 billion) in sales in 2017. Almost all major dairies, poultry marketers, egg marketers, and German retailers are involved in the Ohne GenTechnik/NO-GMO label. 

“The non-GMO market in Germany, it is way beyond a niche product,” Hissting said. 

The new agreement, signed on 25 April at Seafood Expo Global, represents a recognition by VLOG that the add-ons to GlobalG.A.P. certification are sufficient enough to be equivalent to VLOG certification. 

“Everyone that is GlobalGAP certified can easily apply to use the non-GMO seal.” Hissting said. “That is a really a big step forward in bringing the non-GMO labeling into the aquaculture business.”

GlobalG.A.P. CEO Kristian Moeller said the new agreement also represents the organization’s philosophy when it comes to certification. Namely, that if an organization examining and certifying standards for something GlobalG.A.P. is interested in but doesn’t cover already exists, collaboration or partnership is more productive than creating a separate, independent standard.

“We don’t need to duplicate and develop our own non-GMO label,” Moeller said.