The Word Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva, released a preliminary ruling on Feb. 7 that the unofficial European Union (EU) moratorium on genetically modified (GM) food crops from 1998 to 2004 violated international trade rules. The complaint was collectively brought before WTO in 2003 by the United States, Canada and Argentina.
EU's stance on GM foods effectively prevented any business, including trade and agricultural production, that involved biotech foods. However, Europe lifted the ban in 2004 to let a GM strain of corn (Bt-11 sweet maize) into the market. The primary reason the United States continued to press WTO for a ruling on the case was to determine whether the ban was based on politics or science.
EU reviews each GM crop on a case-by-case basis. The European Commission has established a set of rules that it uses as a guide to help determine whether it will approve any given GM crop. The Commission has maintained that WTO's ruling will have little effect on how it conducts business. "For the moment, we see no consequences for our legislation which we consider to be toughest in the world," said Barbara Helfferich, Commission spokeswoman for the environment. Public sentiment hovers around 70% against the introduction of GM foods into Europe.
WTO will release a final ruling on the matter later in the year.
