www.czu.cz ; www.raupp.info

A leading grain market economist says commercial introduction of genetically
modified (GM) wheat still risks the loss of up to half of U.S. wheat export
markets and up to a one-third drop in price, November 2004.

?No new policy changes or trends have significantly lowered the market
risk of introducing genetically modified wheat,? said Dr. Robert Wisner,
University Professor of Economics at Iowa State University. ?Consumer
resistance remains strong in Europe and Asia, and consumers remain the
driving force in countries where food labeling allows choice.?

Dr. Wisner?s conclusions are in an update released today of his October 2003
report, Market Risks of Genetically Modified Wheat, prepared for Western
Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), a regional network representing
farmers and ranchers in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota,
Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon.

A survey by EuroBarometer published in March 2003 found that most Europeans
do not support GM foods or crops.

Food safety is the main concern of foreign consumers, said Wayne Fisher, a
wheat grower near Dickinson, N.D., and WORC spokesperson. ?They don?t trust
genetically modified crops because there is no independent testing by third
parties or the U.S. government. We need mandatory, independent testing.?

Fisher said farmers are in jeopardy because food policy has not kept up with
the new environmental, legal, and economic developments arising from GM
crops.

?The companies developing genetically modified seed have shielded themselves
from risk, placing all liability on farmers if something goes wrong,? Fisher
said.

Montana wheat grower Helen Waller called for a time-out on GM crops.

?The biotech industry needs to slow down, and policy makers need to catch
up,? Waller said. ?We?ve seen a drop in the U.S. share of soybean exports to
the European Union since commercialization of GM soybeans and a loss of the
EU corn market. We can?t afford to jeopardize our wheat export markets. We
need legislative solutions to protect our wheat farmers.?

Waller and Fisher called on the Montana and North Dakota legislatures to
address liability issues in the 2005 sessions.

Wisner reported these new findings:

? The European Union has lifted its blanket moratorium on approval of GM
crops. It has also adopted a more restrictive GM food labeling program and
traceability requirements for GM food and crops, to allow identification of
the source of biotech ingredients.

? A survey of European supermarkets found very few foods with GM ingredients
for sale, implying that marketing products made from GM wheat would present
a major challenge to the European food industry at this time.

? With new GM food labeling in place, U.S. soybean product exports to the EU
declined much more than exports to other countries in 2003-04. Drought cut
U.S. supplies and worldwide exports.

? Ten central and eastern European nations joined the EU, increasing the
number of countries with food labeling programs. Labeling allows consumers
in these countries to show their preferences about GM food to food
companies, wheat producers and the seed industry.

? The EU has approved the marketing, but not production, of a type of GM
sweet corn. With strict labeling and present consumer attitudes, it will be
difficult to market in the EU.

? There is no evidence of change in the overwhelming preference of Asian
consumers for non-GM wheat.

Monsanto developed GM hard red spring wheat to resist the commonly used
Round-Upˇ herbicide. The company indefinitely postponed release of its GM
wheat in May 2004, compelled by the market resistance documented by Wisner?s
original report.

WORC is a network of grassroots organizations from seven states that include
8,750 members and 50 local community groups. WORC helps its members succeed
by providing training and by coordinating regional issue campaigns.

[www.commondreams.org]

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