Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 5 • Number 37 • 30th October 2001

GMO Update: EU Moratorium, US-China Dispute, APEC


EU members refuse to end GMO moratorium

At a meeting in Luxembourg on 29 October, environment ministers from a number of EU countries continued to oppose the European Commission’s suggestion to lift the de facto moratorium on the approval of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in place since 1998. They argued that the labelling and traceability laws recently proposed by the Commission (see BRIDGES Weekly, 31 July 2001) needed to be in place first before they would consider lifting the ban. It will take another two years, however, until the regulations enter into force, possibly longer should France and Luxembourg continue to insist on a new directive on environmental liability to be passed before lifting the ban.

EU Environment Commissioner Margaret Wallstrom expressed concern that a continued ban could lead to legal suits brought by biotechnology firms, or to complaints from GMO exporters, such as the US, at the WTO. "This is problematic and I don’t know how to solve it," she told ministers. "We are in an illegal situation." The revised EU regulations on GM food and feed will be discussed at the next meeting of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures on 31 October - 1 November, at the request of the US. Discussions are likely to focus on EC Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs (formerly Directive 90/220/EEC). The revised Directive, which entered into force on 12 March this year, constitutes one of the strictest GMO regulations in the world (see BRIDGES Weekly, 20 February 2001).

US-China GM soybeans dispute resolved

The US and China last week resolved their dispute over China’s GM food regulations. According to US Trade Representative spokesperson Richard Miss, China has "made a proposal which I describe as designed to remove obstacles to US exports". Miss did not elaborate further on the content of the proposal. The US is now in discussions with the Chinese over how to implement the proposal. The resolution re-opens the door for sales of US soybeans to China. In early June, China had announced it was imposing new controls on imports of bio-engineered foods, but the details on the safety assessments food exporting countries had to provide were not specified, leading to a suspension of exports threatening up to $US 1 billion in sales of US soybeans to China (see BRIDGES Weekly, 11 September 2001). As a result, the US soybean industry had asked for clarification of the rules and a transition period until those rules take effect, both of which have now been granted by China. It is unclear, however, when China will produce the detailed regulations to enforce the new rules on GM food imports.

APEC to establish policy dialogue on biotechnology

During the last day of their 18-21 October summit, members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum (see BRIDGES Weekly, 23 October 2001) endorsed a US proposal to establish a new high-level policy dialogue on biotechnology. The forum aims to enable APEC leaders to "exchange views and pursue cooperative activities on a wide range of issues relating to biotechnology development, regulations governing new products, implications for trade, and effective communications strategies." According to the US, the dialogue will help officials to "harness this new technology and capitalise on its benefits".

"US-China Soybean trade tiff resolved," REUTERS, 24 October 2001; "US Wins Asian Approval for Agricultural Biotechnology," BIOTECH ACTIVISTS, 22 October 2001; "No end in sight for EU block on new GM foods," REUTERS, 30 October 2001.