Front Page	E-mail PagePrint Version

US is joined by Argentina and Canada in a challenge to the EU moratorium on genetically-modified crops

WASHINGTON, DC - 02/01/06 - A preliminary decision by a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel on the US challenge of the European Union (EU) moratorium on bloc-wide approvals for crops derived from biotechnology is expected sometime within the next two weeks, according to a senior US trade official.

The WTO decision was postponed twice, in August 2005 and early last month, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) official told reporters in a recent teleconference.
 
Argentina and Canada joined the US in challenging the EU moratorium, which was imposed in 1998.

A WTO decision in favor of the US "would allow countries to sell large amounts of processed foods containing biotech ingredients to EU countries," the official said.

Biotech products are commonly known in Europe as genetically modified (GM) crops.

The United States brought its challenge to the WTO in 2003, saying the moratorium was an unfair trade restriction causing "unnecessary delays" in Europe's accepting US crop exports, the trade official said.

"For years, the United States refrained from bringing the WTO case because the EU continually assured us that the moratorium would soon be lifted. But the EU was not able to overcome its internal political pressures and lift the moratorium," according to a fact sheet issued by the Office of the USTR and quoted in The Washington File.

Approximately half of the maize grown in the US is from biotech seeds, the USTR official said., while the fact sheet stated that US consumers have been safely consuming nutritious foods that contain biotech ingredients for a decade. 

The loss of agricultural sales to Europe because of the ban amounts to "several hundred millions of dollars" annually, according to the official, who spoke with reporters on the condition of anonymity.

Once a preliminary decision is issued, the official said, "all relevant parties will have a chance to review and comment on it. The WTO then will issue a final decision on the approval challenge in late 2006 or early 2007."

Also at issue is the EU moratorium on accepting new varieties of biotech seed.

Although EU scientists have found no safety risks on approximately half of the biotech products they have examined, some members of European Commission (EC) in Brussels still has concerns about the safety of these products.

The EC proposes legislation and is responsible for the implementation of EU treaties and decisions.

The European regulatory system is inconsistent with how other countries regulate agricultural products that use science to determine a product's safety, the official said.

The US, the official concluded, "believes the EU moratorium is based on "political expediency" more than on health or safety concerns."

Go back, or read the latest Front Page stories:

Korea, US Free Trade Pact ''Possible'' by Early 2007

WASHINGTON, DC – 10/25/06 – A free trade pact between the US and South Korea could become a reality by early 2007, says chief US negotiator Wendy Cutler at the opening of this week’s fourth round of talks between the two countries; since the two sides launched FTA negotiations in February they have reported little progress even though they postponed consideration of the most politically sensitive issues, such as US access to the Korean rice market.