ENVIRONMENT: EU Draws Closer to U.S. over Biotech Foods

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Analysis - by Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Jul 3 2003 (IPS) - New genetically modified foods may be sold in the European Union for the first time, bringing the 15-nation grouping a step closer to ending a trade row with the U.S.

The European Parliament approved two laws on Wednesday that will allow the European Union (EU) to lift its controversial five-year moratorium on approving genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and end a union-wide ban on biotech products.

The EU hopes that by lifting its moratorium, it will ease tensions between the EU and other countries, particularly the U.S., and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which deals with trade rules between nations.

The U.S. has been hoping for the past five years that the EU will lift its moratorium.

The EU’s member states will be able to take action to prevent contamination from GM crops and for tougher labelling of GM food and traceability of crops.

This means that new GM foods can be sold in Europe for the first time in five years, but only if they are clearly labelled. Labels will have to read: "This product is produced from GMOs."

The decision comes less than a week after a EU-U.S. summit in Washington on June 25, aimed at improving relations between the two blocs after the war in Iraq.

Relations between Washington and its European allies were strained as France and Germany, two of the EU’s most powerful members, refused to back the U.S.-led invasion.

At the summit U.S. President George Bush urged EU leaders to drop their ban on GM foods.

The EU has maintained a freeze on the commercial development of GM foods since 1999, which has angered the U.S. and other GM crop-growing nations. They say they have been deprived of a huge export market in Europe and forced African countries to refuse GM food aid.

The U.S. filed a suit with the WTO last month arguing for the moratorium to be lifted as it was an unfair trade barrier.

However, it is thought the U.S. may not cancel the action, as it regards the GM labelling system as likely to deter customers. Small and medium-sized businesses also complain about the extra bureaucracy involved.

The news of the EU’s vote has not been welcome by the U.S. Washington is of the view that the new labelling requirements will create a new kind of trade barrier with heavy cost implications.

So far the U.S. Administration has not said how it will officially respond after the vote by the parliament.

The American Farm Bureau, the largest farm organisation in the U.S., has however warned: "With this new labelling and traceability requirement, the EU has only made a bad situation worse."

It has urged the Bush administration to continue to "aggressively prosecute" the case in the WTO against the EU.

Last Tuesday (Jul 1), members of the European Green Party wrote to U.S President George Bush to follow in the EU’s footsteps. In a letter, the environment-conscious party wrote:

"The idea behind these laws is both deeply democratic and market oriented; to let people make their own choice. When the laws come into force Europeans will be able to make an informed choice. When they choose a product to buy they will see if it contains GM ingredients or not. Unfortunately, Americans do not have the choice to either eat or avoid GM food. This is a choice that you should give them."

A spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington said that, while the U.S. favours consumer choice, "this information should be non-prejudicial in presentation and feasible for producers to provide." He said the "proposed new EU labelling rule does not meet this standard."

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, is desperate to show progress in the face of mounting pressure from the U.S.

A plan to tighten even further the threshold for labelling GM products – from 0.9 to 0.5 per cent – was averted in return for an amendment that will allow EU member states "to take appropriate measures to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs in other products".

Civil society groups such as Greenpeace have welcomed the vote, saying that the new rules are a slap in the face for the U.S., which is doing its best to forcefeed the world genetically engineered food after heavy lobbying from biotechnology multinational companies such as Monsanto, the world leader in biotechnology crops.

Geert Ritsema, GM Campaign Coordinator of the environmental group, Friends of the Earth Europe, said:

"This new legislation is a welcome step in the right direction and will allow countries to take action to protect our food and farming from genetic pollution. It will also give consumers and farmers more information so that they can choose whether or not to take part in the biotech industry’s massive GM experiment."

The new rules will now go to the Council of EU Agricultural Ministers, probably before the end of July. If the Council agrees, these will be operational in the autumn of 2003.