Products consisting of, or containing, GMOs and food/feed produced from GMOs are also subject to traceability requirements. Traceability is the ability to track GMOs and food/feed produced from GMOs at all stages of the supply chain. Traceability makes it possible to label all GM food/feed, to closely monitor the potential effects on the environment and on health and, where necessary, to withdraw products if an unexpected risk to human health or to the environment is detected.

The traceability rules mean that all operators involved, in other words anyone who introduces a product to the supply chain or receives such a product (farmers, food/feed producers, etc), must be able to identify their supplier and the companies to which the products have been supplied.

Operators must provide the following, in writing, to whom they supply the product:

• an indication that the product - or certain ingredients – contains, consists of, or is obtained from GMOs; and
• information on the unique identifier(s) for these GMOs.

In the case of products consisting of or containing mixtures of GMOs to be used only as food or feed or for processing, this information may be replaced by a declaration of use by the operator. It has to be accompanied by a list of the unique identifiers for all those GMOs that have been used to constitute the mixture.

Operators must ensure that the information is passed on in writing to those who are next in the supply chain.

For a period of five years after every transaction within the supply chain, every operator must keep this information and be able to identify the operator from whom he or she obtained the products and the one to whom he or she supplied them.

Exemption

Conventional products, i.e. those produced without genetic modification, may unintentionally contain traces of GMOs, for example, due to cross-pollination during cultivation, or due to adventitious or technically unavoidable mix of GM and non-GM during harvesting, storage, and transport or processing. However, conventional products with unintentional traces of GMOs are not subject to traceability or labelling requirements if the GMO traces they contain are below 0.9%. This is the case when traces are detected, even though the farmer or the food producer can prove to their appropriate national authorities that they have taken appropriate steps to avoid the presence of GM material.