Friday

29th Mar 2024

WTO set to push EU down genetic crops path

All eyes are on the World Trade Organisation today (7 February) as it is supposed to rule on the EU's rules and practices on genetically modified products, in what could become a serious blow to the bloc's reluctance to allow biotech foods and crops.

The case was brought to the trade organisation (WTO) by Argentina, Canada and the US in 2003, with the three countries objecting to the EU's unofficial moratorium on genetic product (GMOs) approvals in 1998-2004.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

They argue the ban was not based on science and hurt their exports, adding that the union's rules on GMOs still do not work properly even though the moratorium has been lifted and several new biotech products have been authorised.

EU officials are not expecting a complete condemnation of the bloc's policy on modified food and crops, but do foresee criticism of national bans on specific products in some member states, which often cite lack of evidence as a reason for their boycotts.

Environmentalists maintain Brussels will come under even stronger WTO pressure to push GMO approvals, while some 70 percent of EU citizens oppose such moves.

Little evidence

Earlier this year, the European Commission ordered Greece to lift its ban on GMO maize seeds made by US biotech giant Monsanto, arguing Athens did not provide any proof for claims that the products damage human health.

Greek authorities are planning to take the case to the EU courts, but EU judges have previously ruled against a similar ban by the region of Upper Austria.

EU policy on GMOs is based on a 2001 law that provides for a case-by-case authorisation regime for the release of GMO products into the bloc's common market on the basis of a safety check by national authorities and the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA).

EU-wide debate

National governments' attempts to ban GMO products approved in Brussels have come about as a result of popular opposition to the biotech industry.

Last November, Swiss citizens supported a five-year moratorium on the farming of genetically modified plants and animals, paving the way for introduction of the toughest restrictions yet in Europe.

Austrian have authorities reacted by promising they would hold a pan-European debate about the future of GMOs across the continent during their presidency in the first half of 2006, with the meeting scheduled for 4 and 5 April.

Opinion

Is Hogan about to let Trump's GM exports into EU?

By 18 March, trade commissioner Phil Hogan wants to sign a deal with the Trump administration which, to add a bit of spice, includes fast-tracking GMO imports in an attempt to please the US farming industry.

Revealed: the new lobbying effort to deregulate GMOs

An investigation by Corporate Europe Observatory has uncovered how new lobbying strategies, aimed at deregulating modern genetic techniques are driven by academic and biotech research institutes with corporate interests - utilising 'climate-friendly' narratives.

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us