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16 jan 2002
us steps up the pressure on eu gmo
legislation
US comments to the WTO on EU proposed
Regulations, (1) obtained by Friends of the
Earth (FoE) show the strong opposition the US
is mounting to EU legislation on GMOs. Over
the past few months more than 6 countries
worldwide have faced overwhelming US pressure
when trying to implement strict GMO
regulations.
The US comments identify as the “core
problem facing the European Union in
biotechnology” the fact that EU Member States
have the final say in the authorisation
procedure. They consider that the recent
proposals fail to address this and complain
that “decisions will still be made through
political process” and therefore “individual
Member States will continue to be able to
hold the approval process hostage to
political concerns”. The US administration
has already announced their hope that the
moratorium will be lifted following the
mid-March EU Summit [2]. There is, therefore,
a potential risk that during its Presidency,
the Spanish government might push for GMO
authorisations to be re-started under the
so-called ‘gentlemen's agreement’ initiative
with the biotech industry.[3]
The US considers the Proposals as
inoperational and underlines throughout its
comments the difficulties in implementation
or enforcement of the EU proposals. Regarding
labelling, the US asserts that the Proposal
“does nothing to ensure food safety”,
“encourages fraudulent labelling claims” and
“would undermine consumer confidence”.
According to Friends of the Earth, the
United States - which is a non-signatory to
key international agreements such as the
Convention on Biological Diversity, the
Biosafety Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol -
has nothing to teach the European Union about
environmental or consumer protection
standards. “The American administration is
determined to weaken the EU’s legislation on
GMOs and is prepared to use bully-boy tactics
to do so”, said Gill Lacroix, Biotechnology
Coordinator at Friends of the Earth Europe.
“A recent EU opinion poll shows that 94.6% of
citizens want the right to choose about GM
foods(4), and that right can only be ensured
by labelling and traceability of GMO-derived
products. The European Commission and the
Member States must stand firm in the face of
US pressure and give EU citizens the strict
regulations on environmental and consumer
protection that they demand”.
In recent months, the Washington
administration has stepped up pressure on any
country that wants to adopt strict
legislation on GMOs. Leaked documents from
the US and Argentinean governments obtained
by FoE [5] show the pressure that the US and
biotech companies have put on countries like
Croatia and Bolivia which wanted to adopt
strict GMO regulations. Currently, the
pressure is also enormous in Asia in
countries such as China, Korea and Thailand
that plan to introduce new labelling laws for
GMOs. Last year, US threats to Sri Lanka of
action under the WTO led to the abandonment
of a proposed ban on GMOs that was to have
been implemented in September 2001.[6]
Juan Lopez, Adviser on Genetic Engineering
at Friends of the Earth International, said
that the US pressure on other countries to
interfere in their decision-making processes
is outrageous. “The US is effectively saying
not only that citizens’ demands should be
ignored but also that EU Member States should
not have the right to take decisions about
the GMO authorisation process. That is
absolutely unacceptable in the interests of
democracy. EU Member States, as well as other
countries round the world, should tell the US
government to back off, ignore their threats,
and stand up for their democratic
rights".
For more information:
Friends of the Earth Europe, Gill Lacroix,
T. 32-2- 542 01 82, mobile
32-(0)476-244.161
Friends of the Earth International, Juan
Lopez, T. 32-2-542 01 87, mobile
32-(0)477-391.496
To view the US comments to the WTO on the
proposed EU regulations, visit:
www.foeeurope.org/press/US_official.htm
[1] Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council
concerning traceability and labelling of GMOs
and traceability and labelling of food and
feed products produced from GMOs (COM(2001)
182) and Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on
genetically modified food and feed (COM(2001)
425).
[2] The EU’s de facto moratorium was
initiated by five Member States in 1999 -
Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg
- which demanded traceability and labelling
regulations before any more GMOs are approved
for release in the EU. Since then, three more
Member States – Austria, Belgium and Germany
– have adopted positions which support the
moratorium.
[3] This initiative, first put forward by
the Commission in July 2000, proposes that
GMO approvals could start again if the
biotech companies commit, under voluntary
agreements, to adhere to the conditions of
both the revised deliberate release directive
(before it is officially in place) AND the
future EU Regulations on
Traceability/Labelling of GMOs and GM
Food/Feed.
[4] Eurobarometer 55.2 of December 2001
“Europeans, science and technology”,
available on:
http:/europa.eu.int/comm/research/press/2001/pr0612en-report.pdf
[5] To view the Bolivian resolution on GMOs,
and documents from the Argentinean Embassy
and Mission and the Bolivian Mission, visit:
http://www.foeeurope.org/press/17.12.01.htm
To view the Croatian Draft Law, and U.S.
memo, U.S. NGO reply to the memo and other
background information visit:
http://www.zelena-akcija.hr/eng/green_action.html
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