earticle

영어

Issues of GMOs and GM foods certainly entail variety of considerations ranging from environmental protection, public health, consumer’s right and protection, to the promotion of technology. Different governments, states, and regions propose their own perspective on each subject matter and the arguments arising out of those various angles are never to come to any agreement. Among those unsettled issues, “safety” concern that GM food poses on human health and the environment clearly is the heart of the matter. This article examines how to approach the problem of consumer protection concerning GMOs, especially with GM foods, by examining the trends on international regulation concerning GM foods, extracting common points between the general regulations on GM foods and regulations for consumer protection, reviewing all the options regarding the methods of protecting consumers in the area of GM foods, and discussing the outlook for the GM food regulations for consumer protection. Governments should take the lead in organizing and providing consumers with necessary information while private organizations and/or consumer agencies consistently review and verify the government-fed information, so that to build informed consumer-tele. Regarding the food safety, it is especially significant to set the safety standards that the consumers can accept and also to involve consumers in the process of formulating these standards. By doing so, it allows the consumers to make a voluntary decision on whether to accept and choose GMOs. There should be a redesign of the standard for labeling regarding the safety and hazards of GMO, and the labeling standard and method regarding the GMO safety must be reexamined in full measure through a consumer-oriented approach, to ensure consumers’ voluntary and proactive decision making.