Recent food scares worldwide, mainly triggered by the mad cow and foot-and-mouth diseases, have led several countries, including all European Union member states, to strengthen their legislation protecting consumers.

New laws have been enacted, tougher safety regulations have been introduced, and a more cautious attitude is being adopted when faced with new foodstuffs produced by new scientific technology.

One area of ongoing development regards the regulation of the production and marketing of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The EU has the toughest GMO legislation in the world, with the adoption of a number of directives based on what is known as "the precautionary principle". In a nutshell, the principle revolves around the premise that the potential benefits and damages of the latest scientific development are not yet well-known, so development has to be regulated thoroughly in the interest of the consumers, and policy-makers and scientists must do their best to anticipate the impact of such development.

Concretely, the principle was applied on several levels. Earlier this year the European Parliament approved strict rules on the marketing and production of GMOs, while France, Italy, Austria, Denmark and Greece said they would not plant GMOs until the EU had enacted additional legislation to ensure reliable tracing and labelling of GMOs through the food chain, and a regime of environmental liability.

Council Directive 2000/13/EC is the main piece of EU legislation regarding the labelling of all foodstuffs with the aim of informing and protecting the consumer, while EC Directive 90/220 states that the genetically modified foods authorised for marketing in EU countries have to be labelled as such.

The case for GMO food labelling is based on two arguments: one is for food safety, the other for consumer choice.

GMO food is not the same as natural food, and scientific evidence shows that there have been cases of allergies induced by such foods. Moreover, there is not enough scientific evidence to prove that GM food is not harmful to humans, and that is reason enough to adopt a cautionary, regulatory attitude.

The second argument, for consumer choice, goes a step further. Whether GM food is harmful or not, it should nevertheless be labelled, because consumers have a right to choose between GM and non-GM food and because the consumer has a right to information about all the products purchased and consumed.

Our own parochial scenario is indeed different. It is disturbing to note, for example, that GMOs in Malta are not only unlabelled, but their production and marketing is totally unregulated.

Even more disturbing is the very fact that out of 89 companies contacted for a specific study on the presence of GMOs in Malta - commissioned by the Environment Ministry and concluded last month, but never made public - only 45 replied, with one of them stating it could not confirm the origins of its product.

As The Malta Independent on Sunday revealed, of 12 companies supplying fruit and vegetables that could be potentially GM, only four confirmed that their products were GM-free. Importation records also show that the GM status of 10 out of 36 local companies dealing with plant seeds is uncertain.

In other words, the GM status of our local foodstuff is uncertain and information is mostly unavailable.

Consumer protection, together with concern for the environment and human health, demands that the Maltese government adopts tougher, specific and up-to-date legislation that addresses these public concerns. Food labelling legislation is only one of the important and urgent needs created by GMOs, but it is crucial in guaranteeing the Maltese consumers' "right to know".

Malta's active drive to join the EU and comply with the Acquis Communautaire will eventually include all EU directives on GMOs that protect the consumer. This will also mean that Malta will have to set up a GMO regulatory infrastructure, which is officially estimated to cost more than Lm500,000.

We urge the government to start investing immediately in such an infrastructure and to draft and enact the much-awaited Environment Protection Law that would regulate GMOs. Whatever the beneficial and negative impacts of GM foods, consumers should have the right to choose, and the government should guarantee us that right as soon as possible.