March 31, 2003

A Pew Initiative for Food and Biotechnology news summary

An international alliance to force the EU to restart its stalled approvals process for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is being sought by the US, starting with an effort to court Argentina, a major
producer of GM crops, reports Agra Europe.

Talks were held on Thursday between Argentine Vice Minister of Foreign Relations Martin Redrado and Deputy US Trade Representative Peter Allgeier on the possibility of a World Trade Organization (WTO) case being brought against the EU.

The two officials expressed their solidarity in trying to get the EU's de facto moratorium on new GMO approvals lifted.

"We are not in a position today to make an announcement about specific measures in the WTO, but we both look at this matter in a similar light," Allgeier told the press on Thursday.

US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick told the Senate Finance Committee in Washington earlier this month that he preferred a coalition effort to a unilateral legal action.

Getting the four-year-old moratorium lifted is a priority for US farmers, who claim to have lost US$ 300 million per year because of the ban. The US biotechnology sector is also losing millions of dollars in sales to EU producers, writes Agra Europe.

Argentina is a natural ally for the Americans, as 95% of Argentine soybean product exports are genetically modified, along with 25% of cotton exports.

"We see this as a critical issue and we are looking for the development of these products in a safer environment and we share these goals with the U.S.," said Martin Redrado.

Eight EU governments are still supporting the moratorium despite opposition from the European Commission, which considers the measure illegal. The Commission has also stated its belief that any WTO case would be won easily by the U.S.

Commission officials said they had yet to hear any official compliant from Argentina.

However, the need to muster support for action in Iraq, and the fear of $ 4bn in retaliatory EU sanctions in the unrelated Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) WTO case have so far discouraged the US from taking action.

But US officials have repeatedly stated that Washington's patience will not last forever, according to Agra Europe.

As Reported in the News is a weekday feature of the Pew Initiative for Food and Biotechnology that summarizes one of the most interesting stories of the day, as reported by media from around the world, and selected by Initiative staff from a scan of the news wires. The Initiative is not a news organization and does not have reporters on its staff: Posting of these stories should not be interpreted as an endorsement of a particular viewpoint, but merely as a summary of news reported by legitimate news-gathering organizations or from press releases sent out by other organizations.