Does the new advertising law prohibit non-genetically modified words?

Bi Meijia, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, told the media that the act of selling "non-GMO" violated the Advertising Law and other relevant laws and regulations.

Advertising of non-GM crop varieties prohibits "non-GM"

10 On June 9, CCTV Advertising Management Center officially announced that it would strengthen the review of advertisements involving genetically modified and non-genetically modified products. Among them, there are no advertisements for crops such as rice and peanuts and their processed products that are commercially planted with genetically modified varieties in China and around the world, and the use of non-genetically modified advertising words is prohibited; Advertisements for products and processed products such as soybeans and rapeseed that have been commercially planted with genetically modified varieties are prohibited from using words with non-genetically modified effects, such as misleading advertising words such as healthier and safer, in addition to collecting certification materials as required.

The official said that the move was because the Ministry of Agriculture sent the Letter of the General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture on Asking the Industry and Commerce to Strengthen the Management of Advertising Involving Genetically Modified Organisms to the SAIC, which will strengthen the supervision and review of non-GMO advertisements.

The reporter was informed that the Ministry of Agriculture did send a letter to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce recently requesting to strengthen the management of advertisements involving genetically modified products, but the letter was an internal official document and was not made public.

As a selling point, "non-GMO" has aggravated public panic.

The day before yesterday, Bi Meijia, chief economist and spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture, told the media that some enterprises took advantage of some consumers' lack of awareness and anxiety about GM technology, and the practice of using "non-GM" as a selling point was actually commercial packaging, which not only violated the Advertising Law and other relevant laws and regulations, but also led to disorderly competition in the industry and intensified public panic about GM technology.

Bi Meijia said that behind the commercial war between genetically modified and non-genetically modified, it is the struggle for the interests of enterprises, which has no essential relationship with the safety of genetically modified foods.

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The labeling system of "non-transgenic" should be improved.

Experts said that at present, most grain and oil enterprises in the market have been involved in genetically modified induced advertising.

Huang, a member of the National Genetically Modified Organisms Safety Committee and former director of the Institute of Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that some products used "non-genetically modified" as a selling point for hype and false propaganda, mainly focusing on grain and oil advertisements.

Huang said that some products, such as peanut oil, have nothing to do with genetically modified crops because there are no genetically modified peanuts in the world. In this case, unfair competition is still formed by advertising "non-GMO". "Such advertisements should be banned."

Wang Shaohua, a partner of Jingyue Law Firm who has been paying attention to the unfair competition of genetically modified advertisements all the year round, said that CCTV's move is aimed at two types of advertisements, one is products unrelated to genetically modified crops, such as peanut oil and sunflower oil, and the use of the word "non-genetically modified" in advertisements of such products will cause unfair competition to other enterprises.

Wang Shaohua introduced that the other category is products with genetically modified and non-genetically modified crops in raw materials. Misleading words such as "healthier and safer" were used in this case, which also formed false propaganda.

Wang Shaohua said that according to his observation, most brands of grain and oil enterprises in the market have carried out or are still carrying out induced advertisements involving genetically modified organisms. These induced advertisements violate the advertising law and the unfair competition law.

In addition, Huang said that the country currently implements the principle of "zero tolerance" for major crops such as soybeans, that is, only 100% of genetically modified ingredients can be marked as "non-genetically modified".

Huang said that there are many disputes and discussions about the labeling system in the world at present, and China should further improve the labeling system.