In its own May 13 press statement, the European Commission acknowledges that no new agricultural biotech products have been approved since October, 1998, nearly five years ago. - ustr.gov
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This moratorium effectively prohibits most U.S. corn exports to Europe. In addition to violating EU law, the moratorium clearly breaches World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
Specifically, the WTO requires that measures regulating imports be based on "sufficient scientific evidence" and that countries operate regulatory approval procedures without "undue delay." - ustr.gov
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The Need to Act Now: The Effects of Europe's Policies Are Spreading
ustr.gov
"The affluent nations can afford to adopt elitist positions and pay more for the food produced by so-called natural methods; the one billion chronically poor and hungry people of this world cannot. New technology will be their salvation, freeing them from obsolete, low-yielding, and more costly production technology." - Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Laureate
The EU moratorium on agricultural biotech approvals has ramifications far beyond Europe. The spread of beneficial biotechnology is slowing, and developing countries have already suffered negative consequences.
In the fall of 2002, some famine-stricken southern African countries balked at U.S. food aid because of ill-informed health and environmental concerns, as well as fears that the countries' exports to Europe would be jeopardized by "contamination" of local crops.
Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique refused U.S. food aid made of the same wholesome corn that Americans eat every day. Zimbabwe and Mozambique eventually accepted U.S. food aid after making costly and cumbersome arrangements to mill donated corn so that African farmers could not try to grow it; governments feared their exports to Europe would be jeopardized. Zambia continues to refuse U.S. corn.
Edith Ssempala, Uganda's ambassador the United States, said she worries that "if Uganda accepts the GM banana, the European Union will retaliate and refuse to buy [our] food exports." (National Public Radio, January 23, 2003) This fear has prevented Uganda from taking advantage of biotech bananas developed in Belgium.
"Europe has surplus food and has never experienced hunger, mass starvation and death on the scale we regularly witness in Africa. Africans can speak for themselves ... The African continent, more than any other urgently needs agricultural biotechnology." - Dr. Florence Wambugu, Kenyan scientist and former Director of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. |
