GMOs: Small victory for EU in WTO trade dispute with US

The WTO has decided to hear scientific
opinion before ruling on the GMO case filed by the US against the
EU, thereby delaying a decision until March 2005 the
earliest.

 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) wants to hear scientific
opinion before taking its decision on the GMO case against the EU.
This will put off a decision until March 2005 the earliest. 

Environmentalists have celebrated the WTO decision as a small
victory for the EU, saying it was “a blow to the Bush
administration who fought to stop any debate over scientific
safety”. However, Adrian Bebb of Friends of the Earth warns that
the battle is not over yet: “The first round of this dispute may
have gone to Europe but the long term implications of this case
could be devastating for everyone. The World Trade Organisation is
a secretive and undemocratic organisation and should not be
deciding what we eat.” 

In August 2003, the US, Argentina and Canada had complained that
the EU was breaking trade rules by banning imports of GM foods into
the EU. The EU’s strict stance on GMOs has reportedly cost US
farmers millions of dollars in lost exports since a ‘de facto’
moratorium had been in force in the EU since 1998, banning any new
GM products (see  EURACTIV 19 August 2003). 

In the meantime, the Commission has lifted this moratorium by
authorising two GM corn varieties in May and July 2004 after
deadlock prevented the Council from taking a decision (see EURACTIV
19 May 2004 and  20 July 2004). Some 24 other applications for GM products are
currently waiting to go through the authorisation
procedure. 

However, the US and its partners are not satisfied with these
developments, saying that they are not going far enough. Only when
the EU approves the growing of genetically modified crops in
Europe, rather than merely the import of GM products, will the US
consider the moratorium to have been genuinely lifted. 

Read more with Euractiv

Council endorses Commission's approach to WTO talks

Overcoming internal disagreements, the Member States have approved the Commission's negotiating approach for a framework for continued trade talks.