Genetically Modified Food Still Hot Topic

At the Montreal meeting, 25 trade and agriculture ministers from around the world attempted to pave the way for the planned WTO summit in Cancun, Mexico, in September. The idea behind the mini-summit was to lay the groundwork on some sticky issues in order to make greater strides in September.

Among the most intractable of these issues is genetically modified (GM) foods. The European Union has sought to forbid the sale of such foods in the name of consumer protection; but the United States says Europe maintains a de facto ban on GM foods, without any scientific basis. Free trade and self-regulation should steer the market, the United States says.

Opposing viewpoints

EU Agricultural Commissioner Franz Fischler initially sought transatlantic cooperation at the Montreal meeting, noting that just this month the EU had decided to allow the sale of genetically modified foods in Europe – provided they came labeled as such, which in the eyes of the EU means a product containing more than 0.9 percent genetically altered proteins or DNA.

Yet U.S. farmers and food producers have threatened to challenge the EU stance in a panel before the WTO in September. They say the five-year ban on introducing genetically modified products in the European Union has already cost U.S. farmers and food producers at least $300 million per year.

In the United States, genetically altered products have long been sold without any special consumer label. An obligatory label that would have to say "genetically altered ingredients," as the EU ordered earlier in July, is completely unacceptable, because it is expensive and would scare off consumers, the Americans argue.

'No social concensus'

On Monday, Fischler made a goodwill tour of Washington to address the problem, meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. Following those meetings, he spoke to an an international assembly of farm lobbyists and diplomats, explaining Europe's position:

"If we are not prepared to give consumers a real choice, so that they can decide for themselves if they want to buy chemical products or some other products, if we don't make sure of that, then there is simply no social consensus in Europe for accepting GM products," Fischler said.

What's in a name?

A further point under discussion in Montreal was product names. The EU wants world-wide protection for the names of 36 regional products, from Bordeaux wine to Parma ham. The U.S. calls this protectionism; Fischler protests.

"We simply don't agree that, for example, the maker of Parma ham can't export the product to Canada and have it sold under the name of Parma ham, simply because some clever businessman in Canada thought of securing the rights to that name," Fischler said.