Ethics Debate Clouds New European GM Food Law
Updated 1:23 PM ET June 7, 1999
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Sweden is calling for "ethical
considerations" to be taken into account in the approval of new
genetically modified organisms, complicating efforts to reach
agreement on a new approvals system, EU officials said
Monday.
EU diplomats met Monday to discuss the latest paper from the
bloc's German presidency, which Germany hopes will allow
ministers to agree later this month on plans to tighten rules on
releasing GMOs onto the market.
"Sweden -- supported by Denmark, Greece and Spain --
wants the ethical situation to be taken into account, and this is
making things a lot more complicated," one EU official told
Reuters.
Other EU governments argued that there is no place for ethical
questions in this piece of legislation, and the dispute seems
likely to make it even more difficult for ministers to find
consensus on the new law, the official said.
The EU is trying to amend legislation on approving new GMOs
amid growing public concern about the safety of foods derived
from crops altered by biotechnology.
At the same time, Europe is under increasing pressure from
trading partners such as the United States to open its market to
GM crops grown by American farmers and marketed by U.S.
life sciences companies.
European lawmakers face the tricky task of streamlining a
cumbersome process while reassuring a suspicious public.
Sweden suggested the new law should have as its objective "to
protect human health and the environment and to ensure that
ethical considerations are taken into account," according to a
draft obtained by Reuters.
The Swedish proposal reflects concern in some quarters that it
is not ethical to interfere with nature by changing the genetic
makeup of plants and animals.
A group of five countries led by Denmark also called for extra
safeguards to ensure that GMOs which could cause resistance
to antibiotics used in medicine could never be approved for
commercial use.
Most countries rejected a German proposal to create a
semi-independent, centralized agency for authorizing new
GMOs, saying the idea would detract from efforts to agree the
plans already on the table, officials said.
Almost all countries also rejected Germany's attempt to
reverse plans to give more power over GMO approvals to EU
governments, at the expense of the unelected European
Commission.
German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin is still pushing for
an initial agreement at a June 24/25 meeting of EU environment
ministers, officials said.
This would allow the European Parliament, which shares
decision-making powers on environmental issues, to give the
legislation a second reading in the autumn.
"They're making some sort of effort to get a compromise, but
the different countries remain a long way apart," one national
diplomat said.
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