By Daisy Ayliffe - 12th September 2005
The WTO opened doors to the public on Tuesday for hearings in a legal dispute over whether US and Canadian sanctions against the EU's ban on hormone-treated meat are illegal.
The EU argues the sanctions are not merited because it has gathered scientific evidence to justify the moratorium in the interests of human health.
The US and Canada respond that the EU has yet to prove it has carried out sufficient risk assessment for the 16-year ban.
But the EU has said the US and Canada have applied a “once a sinner, always a sinner' logic” since October 2003, when member states changed their legal basis for the moratorium.
The US has insisted hormones are administered to cattle to boost growth and muscle mass, adding that three of the six hormones in question are naturally occurring in humans.
The three day talks finish on Thursday and a second series of hearings is scheduled for November - the final WTO ruling is planned in March.
WTO members also began a week of discussions on agriculture and the vexed issue of farm subsidies on Tuesday.
In a bid to break deadlock ahead of key world trade talks this winter, national trade delegations have been told that, “those who have genuinely new things to say” should bring ideas to the table.
“There has to be concrete evidence of movement in positions in order to make meetings worthwhile,” sources close to the talks said.
Brazil and Pakistan are said to have expressed concern that some members were penalizing poor countries by attaching conditions to policy changes.
Developing countries say policy changes by major subsidisers are a precondition to success.
National representatives were also pressed to make a “fundamental change of gear,” as time runs out with around two months left to secure a deal.
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