substantial equivalence

a starting point for the safety assessment for GM foods that is widely used by national and international agencies - including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare, the FDA, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization and the OECD. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which outlines FDA's responsibilities, does not require pre-market clearance of food, including genetically modified food plants [because it has deemed GMOs to be substantially equivalent to their non-GMO counterparts]. [19]