Food imports produced through biotechnology should be less of a problem for
European Union countries as the rest of the world adopts them, EU official
Dan Rotenberg said at a seminar on U.S. ? EU trade relations during the
American Farm Bureau Federation?s 90th annual meeting.

The EU must accept biotech food and feed or it won?t be able to feed its
livestock, Rotenberg said, and would then need to import meat from animals
fed biotech crops in the U.S. or elsewhere. Rotenberg is the European
Commission counselor to the U.S.

European attitudes about biotechnology have been shaped by one-sided,
anti-biotech arguments from the environmental group Greenpeace, he said.
That group has been forceful in advancing its agenda, Rotenberg said,
likening it to the influence the Humane Society of the U.S. exerts on animal
welfare issues in the U.S.

European consumers continue to resist foods which may contain pesticide
residues, Clare Thorp, ag attache for the Embassy of Ireland, said.

?Ironically, EU resistance to pesticides may make biotech products more
acceptable because pesticides can?t be used,? Thorp suggested.

Biotech crops, for example, provide resistance to pests that would otherwise
need to be controlled by pesticide products.

Europeans also continue to reject hormone-treated beef from the U.S. and
elsewhere, Rotenberg said, but EU imports of hormone-free beef have
increased significantly. The EU?s Common Agricultural Policy emphasizes the
?precautionary principle? ? using an abundance of caution when clear proof
is not available ? and permits use of a minority scientific opinion in
import decisions.

Since the late 1990s, EU exports to the U.S. have been increasing while its
imports from the U.S. have remained flat. The EU?s CAP emphasizes quality
over quantity, he said, and only 7 percent of the EU?s exports are
price-dependent bulk commodities. The 27 EU countries are net importers of
raw products and net exporters of higher-value consumer products,
particularly spirits, wine, waters and beer.
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