EU
Ready to End Ban on Engineered Food
Commission
expected to approve modified variety of corn
April
26, 2004
LUXEMBOURG
- The European Union is expected to end a five-year ban on approvals of new genetically
modified foods, paving the way for a biotech corn product to hit Europe's supermarket
shelves. The
EU's trade partners, including the United States, have pressured the bloc to end
the ban, but many consumers remain wary. The
opportunity to end the ban came after a meeting of the EU's 15 agriculture ministers
failed to break a longstanding deadlock on whether to approve a variety of corn
known as Bt-11, marketed by Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta. The
European Commission now has the legal power to rubber-stamp a request for imports
of Bt-11, although there is no formal time limit for the EU executive to act.
Bt-11 corn would be for consumption from the can, not for growing in Europe's
fields. "We're
now in business. The laws are in place and we can do this (authorize Bt-11) in
such a way that consumers are protected," EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner
David Byrne told reporters Monday. "It is therefore logical that we move ahead
with pending authorizations." He said he expected approval in late May or early
June. The views
of EU member states at the farm ministers meeting were largely unchanged from
a previous meeting on Bt-11 in December. Two
countries surprised observers by altering their positions. Italy, usually a skeptic
on the issue, voted in favor, while Spain, which had previously backed approval,
abstained. The
last EU approval of any genetically modified product was in October 1998 for a
type of carnation. The last food product, a type of corn, was approved in April
that year. Six
EU governments backed the proposal to authorize Bt-11: Ireland, Britain, Italy,
the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. France, Austria, Greece, Portugal, Denmark
and Luxembourg voted against. Belgium, Spain and Germany abstained. The
ending of the biotech ban is likely to be welcomed by the EU's top trading partners,
such as the United States, which, along with Argentina and Canada, have challenged
the EU ban at the World Trade Organization. Environmental
groups are fiercely opposed to the lifting of the ban, citing safety concerns.
Polls have also
shown that most consumers are opposed to biotech foods in Europe, where public
opposition to genetically modified produce is estimated at more than 70 percent.
The ban was triggered
when a handful of EU countries said in 1998 they would refuse new authorizations
until there were stricter laws on testing and labeling. U.S. farmers say the moratorium
costs them millions of dollars a year in lost sales. The
real battle for EU biotech policy, diplomats say, is when the bloc gives a green
light to plant live GM crops. That will be the acid test of whether the moratorium
is really over.
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2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
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