E.U.'s top environment official says differences with U.S. over biotech crops will persist

ENN News
Friday, February 20, 2004
By Sean Yoong, Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The dispute between the United States and the European Union about the safety of genetically modified food is not going away any time soon and will likely widen into a global debate, the E.U.'s top environment official said Thursday.

"I think it will continue to be a very difficult debate," said European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom. "I think it will spread to the rest of the world. We will have a debate also with China, Brazil, and other countries. I hope we will not end up in conflict," Wallstrom told a news conference on the sidelines of a U.N.-backed conference on biodiversity here.

The United States started action at the World Trade Organization last August to get the E.U. to lift a de facto moratorium on new biotech foods. The ban was imposed in 1998 amid public fears about environmental and health effects of biotechnology.

E.U. governments are expected to implement strict labeling and traceability rules for products with genetically modified ingredients by April, a preparatory move toward an easing of the six-year-old barriers.

American farmers estimate the E.U. restrictions are costing them nearly US$300 million a year in lost corn exports alone. Washington has launched intense lobbying worldwide in favor of loose or no labeling requirements, asserting that labeling violates international trade accords and aren't necessary.

Wallstrom defended the E.U.'s stance backing strict controls, which she said allow consumers an "informed choice" about genetically modified products. She also blamed biotech companies for making consumers suspicious about genetically modified food, saying the industry had not been sufficiently transparent.

"It was a mistake for the biotech industry to introduce some of its products and seeds," Wallstrom said. "If they look back, they might prefer to have had another choice of products to introduce."

Wallstrom was speaking on the fringes of the Seventh Conference of Parties to the U.N. Convention on Biodiversity, a two-week gathering of government delegates, environmentalists, and scientists aimed at improving efforts to safeguard endangered species.

The conference, which ends Friday, will be followed next week by a meeting on the U.N. Cartagena Protocol, a multilateral biosafety accord. The United States, which is not a signatory to the treaty, is expected to send a delegation of observers to the talks.

U.N. officials say the meeting, which will involve more than 80 signatory countries, will discuss potential risks posed by new biotech products and trade guidelines including the handling, transport, packaging, and identification of living modified organisms.