Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 7 • Number 21 • 30th November 2007
EU BIOTECH APPROVAL PROCEDURES UNDER SCRUTINY
EU BIOTECH APPROVAL PROCEDURES UNDER SCRUTINY
The EU has been granted more time to come into compliance with a WTO ruling related to approvals and national bans on genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). Meanwhile, some EU countries are looking to modify the approval system and the European Commission remains divided in its approach to GMOs, with Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas calling for the withdrawal of the authorisations for two maize varieties.
EU gets more time to implement WTO ruling
On 21 November, the EU was given more time to come into compliance with a WTO ruling against the application of its approval system for genetically modified products. The panel ruled in September 2006 that several aspects of the EU’s approval process for GMOs violated the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). Specifically, it ruled against the EU’s failure to approve a number of biotech products (referred to as ‘product-specific measures’), and against national-level bans in several EU member states on the marketing and import of specific biotech products which had already been approved at the EU-wide level. The ruling was based on a complaint brought in 2003 by the US, Argentina and Canada (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 6 October 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/06-10-06/story1.htm).
The EU has since approved a number of specific biotech products, but the national-level moratoria are still in place (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 5 October 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/07-10-05/inbrief.htm#4).
Given that the parties to the dispute are engaged in discussions on how to move forward - also considering issues of economic interest - they decided to extend the deadline from 21 November this year to 11 January 2007.
Germany calls for an overhaul of the system
Prior to a meeting of European agriculture ministers on 26 November, Horst Seehofer, German agriculture minister, said the whole approval process for GMOs should be re-evaluated. According to Seehofer, "One commissioner says it’s okay and another says it’s not. (It’s not acceptable) that we politicians decide according to a majority and current mood. This is not how we can deal with it." French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier added that "There is a very high public sensitivity (over GMOs), a lot of fears. We have to take time to put procedures into place that can’t be challenged."
As grain prices have increased, the EU livestock industry has been feeling the crunch, and EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel sounded a warning against any temporary halt to the system. She told ministers that postponing any new approvals "will have dramatic consequences. The production of meat will move out of Europe and then we will have to import meat (from animals that are) fed with GMO products. So we will be eating it anyway."
A number of grain and feedstuffs traders and feed manufacturers sounded a similar warning, and complained about the EU zero tolerance policy for low-level presence of GM material in imports, saying it "will lead to crises in the feed, food and livestock industries and to a complete breakdown of the supply chain." They called on the EU Agriculture Council to "take rapid action to prevent irreversible damage to the EU livestock and feed industry leading to a major disruption in the feed and food chain."
An EU ministerial meeting in December is set to further discuss the approval system.
Rifts within the European Commission
Meanwhile, European Environment Commissioner Dimas has voiced scepticism over two genetically modified maize varieties that already gained approval under the European Food Safety Authority. While environmental group Greenpeace supported his position, industry groups raised concerns.
According to new research, the two maize varieties - which are produced by Pioneer Hi-Bred, Dow Agrosciences and Syngenta - could harm butterflies, modify food chains and disturb life in rivers and streams.
Jorgo Riss of Greenpeace stressed that "The vast majority of European citizens and consumers are opposed to genetically engineered plants in agriculture and for food." During a Greenpeace event in Brussels, staged to draw attention to the issue, Marco Contiero said "We call on the European Commission to stop listening to the powerful biotech lobby and support Commissioner Dimas’ call to refuse authorisation for the two pesticide-producing GM maize."
Nathalie Moll, representing European biotechnology companies, warned the Commission against "setting a precedent for EU officials to reject products based on nonverified scientific data." On 29 November, the European Federation of Biotechnology sent Commissioner Dimas a letter, saying that "The draft Commission decisions are totally unacceptable, not only for European farmers and consumers, but also set a terrible example for other parts of the world that presently draft guidelines for the cultivation of GM crops, since they look to Europe as an example."
Stephen Norton, a spokesperson for the US Trade Representative commented that "These products have been grown in the U.S. and other countries for years. We are not aware of any other case when a product has been rejected after having been reviewed and determined safe by European food safety authorities."
ICTSD reporting; "EU wins WTO extension to end GMO bans," REUTERS, 22 November 2007; "EU officials propose ban on genetically modified corn seeds," IHT, 21 November 2007; "France, Germany Seek to Break Deadlock on GMO Foods," REUTERS, 27 November 2007; "Germany calls for review of how EU approves new biotech crops," IHT, 26 November 2007; "European biotech industry criticises Dimas’ position on new GM maize types," CORDIS NEWS, 29 November 2007.