www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

The World Trade Organization ruled that European countries broke
international trade regulations by preventing imports of genetically
modified foods, November 2006.

Argentina, Canada and the United States ? which brought the dispute to the
WTO ? said the decision proved there was no scientific evidence to justify
the ban. The three urged the 25-nation European Union to immediately bring
into compliance its laws on genetically modified organisms.

In a somewhat surprising development, the EU did not postpone the decision
through an appeal. Environmentalists blasted Brussels for bypassing the
chance to appeal Tuesday's decision.

U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Peter Allgeier said, "The findings of the panel
uphold the principle of science-based policymaking over unjustified,
anti-biotech policies." He added that the EU's policies "have perpetuated an
unjustified trade barrier that has impeded both U.S. exports and the global
use of a technology that promises great benefit to farmers and consumers
around the world."

The EU, however, signaled its intention to ignore the WTO's finding that its
six-year moratorium on the products beginning in 1998 violated international
rules. It said it ended the moratorium in 2004, when it allowed onto the
market a modified strain of sweet corn grown mainly in the U.S., and argued
that it had come into compliance with the subsequent approval of further
biotech crops.

"As a result, most of the findings of the panel have become theoretical," EU
trade negotiator Raimund Raith said. "There's no basis for claiming that the
[EU] is maintaining the moratorium."

Genetically modified foods are controversial on both sides of the Atlantic.
European governments such as Germany and France, as well as a number of
environmental groups in the U.S., contend that many such crops are unsafe
for humans and the environment.

The WTO's 1,148-page verdict ? the longest ever issued by the Geneva-based
body, which sets the rules for global commerce ? was confidentially handed
out in May after a three-year investigation.

It did not rule on whether current EU legislation was illegal and
sidestepped the issue of whether biotech foods were safe. But it concluded
that the EU had breached its commitments with respect to 21 products,
including types of oilseed rape, maize and cotton. It also said individual
bans in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg were illegal.

Raith asked the complainants for "a reasonable period of time" to work with
its member states on their national legislation. He said Brussels had
decided not to appeal the decision "despite many reservations" regarding the
arguments and conclusions of the report because its biotech regime was now
functioning properly.

But Washington has said it will continue with its WTO case until it is
convinced that all applications for approval are being decided on scientific
rather than political grounds.

[www.latimes.com]

------------------------------------------
Posted to Phorum via PhorumMail