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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Professor Dotcomm who wrote (2277)	7/13/1999 3:27:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

Glickman Asks U.S. Companies to Label Genetically Modified Food Bloomberg News July 13, 1999, 2:18 p.m. ET Glickman Asks U.S. Companies to Label Genetically Modified Food Washington, July 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman urged U.S. companies to help defuse one of the most contentious trade issues with the European Union by considering labeling products containing genetically modified food. ''This is a subject that's not going to die,'' Glickman said during a speech at the National Press Club. EU suspicion of bio- engineered food is ''going to impede (U.S. companies') ability to export their products to Europe.'' Glickman, whose office billed his speech as a ''major policy address,'' also said he was appointing an independent panel to review the U.S. biotechnology-approval process. The goal is partly to ensure U.S. regulators maintain an arms-length relationship with companies, he said. His speech comes amid growing trade friction between the U.S. and EU over scientific tinkering with food on everything from hormones in beef to cooking oils and salad dressings derived from bio-engineered corn and soybeans. The EU has virtually banned approvals of any new licenses to sell genetically modified food. That has enormous implications for U.S. food firms, which export more than $50 billion a year in genetically altered crops, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers food and beverage analyst Arlene Spiegel. The EU is the second largest market for U.S. food products after North America. Won't Sell Food Many European grocery stores won't sell foods derived from science laboratories. Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.'s application to sell genetically modified corn in Europe is stalled. Novartis AG, and Monsanto Co. have faced similar delays in product approvals. About 40 percent of the U.S. soybean crop, 25 percent of all corn and a third of U.S. cotton were products of biotechnology. A European moratorium on approval of bio-engineered food risks a ''serious and expensive trade conflict,'' Glickman said after conferring with French authorities in Paris June 29.