Fwd: EU again rejects end to biotech ban

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" News Update from The Campaign "

EU again rejects end to biotech ban

Tue, 9 Dec 2003 08:54:20 -0600

 

News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

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Dear News Update Subscribers,

 

We have good news to report. The European Union failed to gain enough

votes on Monday to remove the ban on genetically engineered crops.

 

Austria, Denmark, Greece, France, Luxembourg and Portugal voted against

removing the ban. Belgium, Germany and Italy abstained from voting.

Britain, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden voted to

remove the ban.

 

EU ministers will most likely consider this issue in January. If the ministers

fail to make a decision in three months, then the European Commission

will decide. The United States is putting a lot of pressure on the European

Union to remove the ban.

 

Posted below are two articles. The first is from the EU Business web

site and provides a good overview on the recent developments. The

second article is from Reuters and contains an informative chronology

on the EU ban.

 

Even if the ban is removed, it is unlikely that European countries are

going to begin selling significant quantities of genetically engineered

foods anytime soon. They will all need to be labeled and consumers are

quite opposed to them in the EU countries. Any grocery stores that

attempt to stock foods labeled as containing genetically engineered

ingredients are likely to be in for a lot of consumer protests.

 

Craig Winters

Executive Director

The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

 

The Campaign

PO Box 55699

Seattle, WA 98155

Tel: 425-771-4049

Fax: 603-825-5841

E-mail: label

Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

 

Mission Statement: " To create a national grassroots consumer campaign

for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass

legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered

foods in the United States. "

 

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EU again rejects end to biotech ban

 

08 December 2003

EUbusiness

 

The European Union postponed again Monday a decision on lifting a

four-year ban on bio-engineered crops which has angered the EU's trading

partners, in particular the United States.

 

EU experts handed over to ministers a decision on allowing the import of

import a type of a form of genetically modified (GM) sweetcorn, Bt-11.

Under EU rules, ministers will have three months in which to make a

decision.

 

EU health commissioner David Byrne's spokesman said the required

majority was not secured on the standing committee for the food chain,

which gathers scientific representatives from the 15 member states.

 

" We've always realized that this is a difficult decision, " said

spokesman Beate Gminder. " It's a difficult situation for the member

states, it's something that's difficult to explain to citizens and

consumers, " she added.

 

Environmental group Friends of the Earth welcomed the decision.

 

" There is clearly no scientific consensus over the safety of this

modified sweet corn. The decision not to approve it is a victory for

public safety and common sense, " said Geert Ritsema of Friends of the

Earth Europe.

 

Six countries of the 15-member bloc -- Britain, Finland, Ireland, the

Netherlands, Spain and Sweden -- voted in favour. Three countries

abstained -- Belgium, Germany and Italy -- while six voted against:

Austria, Denmark, Greece, France, Luxembourg and Portugal, she said.

 

The EU had already delayed the vote last month, after a number of EU

countries sought " clarification " before taking the decision.

 

The decision is likely to be put to ministers in January, the European

Commission, the EU's executive body, said. Chief spokesman Reijo

Kempinnen noted that if ministers fail to agree on action within three

months, the file returns to the Commission for a decision.

 

If the EU experts had agreed to allow Bt-11, it would effectively have

lifted a de-facto moratorium in place since 1999 against the import and

cultivation of GM products in the EU.

 

The EU decision -- against a backdrop of public disquiet in Europe on

the issue of " Frankenfoods " -- is being closely watched by its trade

partners, notably by the United States, which has the world's biggest

biotech industry.

 

Along with Argentina and Canada, the United States has appealed to the

World Trade Organisation to overturn the EU ban.

 

The European Commission has proposed approving Swiss firm Syngenta's

application to import Bt-11 as part of a campaign to encourage the GM

industry in Europe.

 

Syngenta's hopes were raised last week when the EU's Food Safety

Authority (EFSA) said another type of GM maize made by US giant

Monsanto, NK 603, was entirely safe for human consumption.

 

The EU health commissioner last week appealed to the member states and

Europe's public to base their perception of food safety on science

rather than fear.

 

" If we fail to make progress, there is a very real danger that an

anti-science agenda may take root in European society leading to a

society hampered and restricted by a collective neurosis, " Byrne said

last Thursday.

 

But opponents of GM crops say much more research needs to be done to

gauge their impact on health and the environment.

 

The EU's moratorium was imposed in 1999 at the initiative of five

countries -- Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg, which were

later joined by Austria and Belgium.

 

The bloc has made some progress on the issue, enacting two directives in

October on labelling and tracing of GM directives that the Commission

said would open the way to lifting the ban.

 

But Washington has attacked the directives as protectionism in disguise,

and a " no " vote on Monday will only keep one transatlantic trade row

rumbling on just as the two sides bury a bitter dispute on US steel

tariffs.

 

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CHRONOLOGY-EU ban on gene crops and foods

 

BRUSSELS, Dec 8 (Reuters) - European Union officials failed to agree on

Monday on approving a new type of genetically modified (GM) maize,

referring the matter to EU ministers for discussion over the next three

months.

 

If the ministers authorise any new GM product, it would end the EU's

unofficial ban on growing or importing biotech foods and crops, which

began in 1998. Before that, 18 GM plant varieties were approved,

including maize, rapeseed and soybeans.

 

Following is a short history of the bloc's unofficial ban on new

genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

 

EU'S MORATORIUM ON GMOs:

 

APRIL 1998 - EU's last approvals of new GM food products.

 

OCTOBER 1998 - EU authorises two biotech carnation varieties to improve

vase life and modify flower colour, the last live GM plants to win EU

approval. The United States sees this as the point when the EU closes

its doors to new GMOs.

 

JUNE 1999 - France and Greece lead calls for de facto moratorium on new

GMO approvals at a meeting of EU environment ministers and win backing

from Italy, Denmark and Luxembourg.

 

They are later joined by Belgium and Austria, forming a minority of EU

states that can block any vote on a new approval.

 

JANUARY 2000 - European Commission adopts regulation that additives and

flavourings have to be labelled if DNA or protein of GMO origin is

present in the final product.

 

JUNE 2000 - French environment minister insists on the need for a

liability scheme for biotech products.

 

JULY 2000 - EU environment ministers say they will support the

moratorium at least until proposals are presented for labelling and

tracing GMO content in biotech products.

 

JULY 2001 - European Commission presents labelling and traceability

proposals.

 

OCTOBER 2002 - Updated " deliberate release " directive enters into force,

regulating the release of live GMOs into the environment. This repeals

previous legislation dating from 1991.

 

The updated directive sets down a step-by-step approvals process for

GMOs or products containing GMOs, and tightens controls on traceability

and labelling.

 

MAY 2003 - United States announces its intention to file a complaint

against the EU's unofficial ban on GMOs at the WTO.

 

JULY 2003 - EU adopts strict rules on labelling and tracing all GM food

and feed, which will apply in member states by mid-April 2004 at the

latest. The labelling threshold for GMO content in non-GM food is set at

0.9 percent.

 

JULY 2003 - Commission issues guidelines on how to grow and

separate GM crops in Europe's fields to minimise the spread of GMOs to

organic and conventional crop cultivation.

 

AUGUST 2003 - United States, Canada and Argentina challenge the EU over

its de facto moratorium at the WTO, saying the ban is illegal and

without any scientific foundation.

 

SEPTEMBER 2003 - Commission rejects a request by the regional government

of Upper Austria to ban the cultivation of GM crops and create a

GMO-free zone.

 

OCTOBER 2003 - Commission delays debate on its proposed seed purity

rules setting GMO content in conventional and organic seeds after EU

states demand stricter safety checks. The proposed thresholds range from

0.3 to 0.7 percent. A vote is now expected for early 2004.

 

NOVEMBER 2003 - Government of Upper Austria says it will challenge

Commission's ruling on its proposed GMO-free zone at the Court of First

Instance: the EU's second highest court.

 

NOVEMBER 2003 - European Union officials postpone a decision on

approving imports of Bt-11 maize, a GM herbicide-tolerant food product

whose seeds are manufactured by Swiss agrochemicals manufacturer

Syngenta.

 

DECEMBER 2003 - The European Food Safety Authority gives clean

bill of health to NK603 maize, genetically engineered by U.S. biotech

firm Monsanto for resistance to chemicals used to kill weeds, saying it

is safe for human and animal consumption.

 

Key EU committee fails to agree on approving Bt-11 maize, passing

decision to EU ministers.

 

 

 

 

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