GMO Labeling Laws Around the World: The 64 Countries That Do It

  |  
Sep 10, 2024

The U.S. currently enforces no mandatory labeling laws on genetically modified foods. Yet we still position ourselves as the world’s most powerful nation. What kind of powerful nation refuses to empower its citizens with the rights to make informed decisions about the food they eat?

These 64 countries, some considerably less “powerful” than the U.S., have mandatory labeling laws on foods containing genetically modified ingredients. You can view a very informative map of the world and the countries with and without GMO labeling laws on the Center for Food Safety’s website. The U.S., along with most of Africa and the Middle East, lags behind the rest of the world, even despite rising consumer concern and pressure on the FDA.

Credit: Image by Sheri Giblin.

These countries require mandatory labeling of nearly all GMO foods and a labeling threshold of 0.9–1% GMO content. (Threshold refers to content per ingredient in each food item.)

  1. Australia
  2. Austria
  3. Belarus
  4. Belgium
  5. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  6. Bulgaria
  7. Croatia
  8. Cyprus
  9. Czech Republic
  10. Denmark
  11. Estonia
  12. Finland
  13. France
  14. Germany
  15. Greece
  16. Hungary
  17. Iceland
  18. Italy
  19. Ireland
  20. Kazakhstan
  21. Latvia
  22. Lithuania
  23. Luxembourg
  24. Malta
  25. Netherlands
  26. New Zealand
  27. Norway
  28. Poland
  29. Portugal
  30. Romania
  31. Russia
  32. Saudi Arabia
  33. Slovakia
  34. Slovenia
  35. Spain
  36. Sweden
  37. Switzerland
  38. Turkey
  39. UK

These countries require mandatory labeling of many GMO foods and a labeling threshold higher than 1% or undefined. This includes laws with a threshold of 1% for the entire food item.

  1. Brazil
  2. China
  3. Indonesia
  4. Japan
  5. Kenya
  6. Malaysia
  7. South Africa
  8. South Korea
  9. Sri Lanka
  10. Ukraine

These countries require mandatory labeling of some GMO foods, but with numerous exceptions and no labeling threshold defined; or a vague mandatory GMO food labeling law that lacks implemention and enforcement provisions.

  1. Bolivia
  2. Cameroon
  3. Ecuador
  4. El Salvador
  5. Ethiopia
  6. India
  7. Jordan
  8. Mali
  9. Mauritius
  10. Peru
  11. Senegal
  12. Taiwan
  13. Thailand
  14. Tunisia
  15. Vietnam

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Resource: Center for Food Safety

Images: (top) rowenawaack, center for food safety

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