By Brian Johnson - 8th February 2006
The WTO has ruled against the EU in a challenge brought by the US and others against Europe's restrictions on the import of GM crops.
The Geneva based WTO arbitration panel said, in a preliminary ruling released late on Tuesday night, that the EU had violated international trade rules by unfairly blocking the import of GM crops.
The US case centred around the EU’s introduction of a six year moratorium on GM products in 1998, that was prompted by the refusal of a number of EU member states to approve the introduction of GM seeds.
Brussels removed the de facto GM ban in 2004, and agreed a new regime to approve the introduction of GM crops, on a case by case basis.
But member states, in a blow to the European commission, have reserved the right to retain national bans, or ‘safeguard clauses’ on GMOs.
Eight EU member states have invoked safeguard clauses on GM products already cleared by the bloc’s approvals system.
The US argues that these national bans on GM crops are effectively trade barriers for products that Washington insists are safe, and shouldn’t be treated any differently from non GM products.
Brussels has tried to deflect this criticism and reduce the number of national bans by ordering its food safety chiefs to take another look at the scientific validity of the member states’ claims.
The full implications of the ruling on the EU’s GM rules are not yet clear, as officials work their way through the confidential document’s more than 1000 pages.
The European commission is remaining tight lipped on the ruling until it fully examines the text, but initial reactions were cautiously upbeat.
“The EU system of GMO authorisation, applicable from April 2004, is clearly vindicated,” said an EU official.
“The panel concluded that that the moratorium has now ceased to exist. “The EU regulatory system will not need to be modified and we will continue to put GMOs on the market only after careful assessment of risks.”
The commission has repeatedly dismissed the US claims, insisting that the moratorium doesn’t exist anymore, and that it now has a clear and fully functioning set of GM crop approvals rules that has already authorised over 30 products for the European market.
But the continuing national bans, high levels of scepticism from the EU public, and the failure of national governments to agree on GM crop approvals, is viewed by the US as a pattern of “unnecessary delays” and “trade barriers”.
“Agricultural products should be provided a timely, transparent and scientific review,” said US trade representative Rob Portman.
US reaction focussed on a victory for free trade, with one US official saying the result was a “significant milestone” in US attempts to have GM crops accepted throughout the word.
But one commission official queried the validity of the US challenge.
“It is not clear, and it never was, why the complaining parties brought this case forward in August 2003 when they were fully aware that the new EU regulatory system was to be applicable only a few months later.”
And European eco-groups dismissed the WTO’s findings as irrelevant.
“This verdict only proves that the WTO puts trade interests above all others and is unqualified to deal with complex scientific and environmental issues,” said Daniel Mittler of Greenpeace.
“The US administration and agro-chemical companies brought the case in a desperate attempt to force-feed markets with GMOs, but will continue to be frustrated.”
“US agro-chemical giants will not sell a bushel more of their GM grain as a result of the WTO ruling. European consumers, farmers and a growing number of governments remain opposed to GMOs, and this will not change - in Europe or globally.”
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