Non-GM Danube Region Standard

The Non-GM Danube Region Standard is the first regional harmonised non-GM quality standard in Southeast Europe which is the basis of a new food and feed certification and labelling with an unique quality label „NON GMO Produced“, provided by Donau Soja and common to all markets in the region.

The label “NON GMO Produced” is developed and registered internationally by the Donau Soja Association

The Non-GM Danube Region Standard with the regional “NON GMO Produced” label, offers the possibility of a joint and transparent market of non-GMO products and enables regional trade without barriers. It also provides the industry with the opportunity to regionally promote non-GMO certified products, it adds value and thus increases competitiveness of the non-GMO food sector in Southeast Europe, while simultaneously helping consumers make an informed choice.

The national and international credibility of the Non-GM Danube Region Standards (production and inspections guidelines) is the keystone on which high confidence and security stands.

Development of Non-GMO Danube region standard

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The Non-GM Danube Region Standard was developed in 2015 with the support of the 15 Ministries of Agriculture within the Danube region, the Donau Soja Association, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ), 

and the leading German and Austrian institutions for non-GMO certification and labelling such as the German VLOG (Association Food without Genetic Engineering) and the Austrian Platform for GMO-Free Food Products (ARGE Gentechnik-frei) as well as the Environment Agency Austria (UBA).

Non-GMO Danube Region Standard and label response to consumer demands

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In Europe 85% of livestock animals are daily fed with genetically modified (GM) feed. Products obtained from these animals (meat, milk, eggs) are not labelled as GMO.
However, 74% of consumers in Europe are against GMO-food and would rather choose products with a non-GMO label (European Commission Study, 2016).
In response to consumer demand, the first non-GM standards were developed 20 years ago, allowing certification and labelling of food and feed and reached more than 10,000 non-GMO labelled products in EU market nowadays.
The non-GMO market is booming, with constant increase of non-GMO certified and labelled products and sales.

Application of the non-GMO Danube Region Standard and label

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Label “NON GMO Produced” might be applied to:

Food products of animal origin (eggs, meat, milk, processed products, etc.)

Food products of plant origin (oils, flours, pasta, etc.)

Feed products

Label “NON GMO Produced” guarantees that:

No genetically modified (GMO) ingredients were used in the production process

Animals were fed non-GMO feed

The end product of plant origin is non-GMO

The benefits of non-GMO labelling:

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Label “NON GMO Produced” might be applied to:

Ensures local agricultural and rural development through protection of local non-GMO farmers and feed industry by creating non-GM market and better prices for farmers
Supports development of the local economy through local soya processing
Creates short, high-quality value chains via vertical integration (local processing on farms and non-GMO livestock production)
Provides options for the local non-GMO livestock sector as well as the feed and food industry in SEE (where plenty of local non-GMO feed is already in use) to differentiate themselves from cheaper imports of meat, milk products (mostly GMO fed)
Provides a transparent market for consumers and the option to choose non-GMO quality
Promotes regional trade and adds value to the local agriculture and food sector

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