WTO rules against Europe in GM food case

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WTO rules against Europe in GM food case

By Alden and Grant in Washington and Raphael Minder in

Brussels

Published: February 7 2006 23:31 | Last updated: February 8 2006 11:11

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/453e4dd8-982d-11da-816b-0000779e2340.html

wtoThe World Trade Organisation ruled on Tuesday that European

restrictions on the introduction of genetically-modified foods violated

international trade rules, finding there was no scientific justification

for Europe’s failure to allow use of new varieties of corn, soybeans and

cotton.

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The ruling was a victory for Washington in a long-running dispute that

has pitted US faith in the benefits of the new crops against widespread

consumer resistance in Europe.

It was immediately welcomed by US farmers and the biotechnology

industry, but castigated by environmental and consumer groups who

charged the ruling was a blatant example of international trade rules

running roughshod over democratic decisions aimed at protecting consumer

health and safety.

The European Commission on Wednesday described the ruling as “a mixed

bag” that criticised former EU regulatory measures, but would not impact

current legislation, which came into force after the US-led complaint

was filed in 2003.

“Our current system has been vindicated” said one spokesperson. “We are

satisfied with parts of this report, particlularly the part that says

our current system works. It is science-based and products are being

approved.”

Officials said however they would wait for a final ruling, expected

around April, to decide whether the EU had grounds to appeal.

A US trade official, briefing reporters on the confidential decision

that was released to the countries involved in the dispute late on

Tuesday, said: “We’re please with the outcome. We’re not at the end of

the road, but it’s a significant milestone.”

Timeline: The EU’s unofficial GMO moratorium

Click here

The US, along with Canada and Argentina, launched the case in 2003

hoping that a favourable ruling by the WTO would prevent European-style

restrictions on GM foods from spreading to Africa, China and other parts

of the world. “One of the reasons we brought this case was because of

the chilling effect the EU moratorium has had on the adoption of

biotechnology,” the official said.

The immediate practical effect of the ruling is unclear. The European

Commission halted the approval of new GM varieties in 1998, but began

limited approvals again in May 2004, after the US launched the WTO case.

Nearly two dozen applications remain in the pipeline.

The WTO decision also found against separate national bans established

by Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg, which have

refused to allow even those GM varieties approved by Brussels. Those

national restrictions have remained in place even after the moratorium

was lifted in 2004.

Food ruling will keep WTO in activists’ sights

Click here

US farmers welcomed the decision. Gorman, director of

regulatory relations at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said:

“We’re hoping that it is going to send a strong message to other WTO

members that biotech approvals must be science-based and can’t take the

amount of time that the EU has taken in approving their biotech products.”

The ruling was also seized on by groups representing large food

companies such as Monsanto and Syngenta, which have been frustrated by

the moratorium and the slow pace of approvals for new GM products.

Thorn, senior director of international trade at the Grocery

Manufacturers Association, said: “The WTO’s decision makes it clear that

biotech regulations must be based on sound science and that the EU’s

approach to biotech crop approvals is unwarranted.”

But Friends of the Earth criticised the ruling as an “inappropriate

intrusion into decisions about what food people eat”. Brent Blackwelder,

president of the group’s US division, said: “The WTO is unfit to decide

what we eat or what farmers grow. It is an undemocratic and secretive

institution that has no particular competence in environmental or health

and safety matters.

“This WTO decision will only increase the determination of citizens in

Europe and around the world to reject these poorly tested foods.”

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

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