Brussels biotech move changes nothing

Europe’s moratorium on biotech foods is not over and a long-running trade dispute will remain untouched, claim US officials.

On Wednesday, Brussels approved its first genetically modified foodstuff for six years, hoping it would ease some of the international pressure exerted on Europe’s much maligned biotech policy.

Canada and the US have reacted sceptically, however, saying that the EU still has a lot of work to do before trading partners will really believe that Europe is open to GMOs.

“This is not the end of the moratorium,” said a US diplomat. “We are not seeing this as a major move.”

A Canadian official said Ottowa was “pleased” but remains sceptical “until it is clear that this is going to continue.”

“We would be looking for a pattern of approvals rather than a single one.”

Brussels has so far passed only one GMO sweet corn, known as BT-11 and marketed by Syngenta.

Argentina, Canada and the US are heading up a group of about 20 countries officially pushing for Europe to open its markets to biotech products with a string of cases in the international trade courts.

EU commissioner for consumer protection David Byrne thought that Wednesday’s lifting of the unofficial ban “would have an effect on the World Trade Organisation proceedings.”

“[The opponents ] made the case that the EU was delaying the application of existing legislation.”

“But now the EU is seen to be operating its own legislation,” added Byrne.

A US official was not so enthusiastic about the progress, stating “the approval of a single product will not affect our WTO challenge."

"The approval of a single product is not evidence that applications are moving routinely through the approval process in an objective, predictable manner based on science and EU law, rather than political factors,” he continued.

“Our basic concern is that the EU does not have a consistently functioning approval process; recent actions by EU authorities to advance a few biotech products through its process are not sufficient to address U.S. concerns."

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