<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4522.1800" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Hallo
Miteinander,</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>hier einmal eine vernünftige PE "unserer
Kommissare",</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Martin</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>EUROPEAN
COMMISSION REGRETS THE REQUEST FOR A WTO PANEL ON GMOS<BR>August 18,
2003<BR>European Commission Press Release DN: IP/03/1165<BR></FONT><A
href="http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/0"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/0</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>3/1165|0|RAPID&lg=EN;<BR>Argentina, Canada and
the U.S. have requested today the establishment of a<BR>WTO Panel on the EU´s
approach to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).<BR>EU Trade Commissioner
Pascal Lamy said: "We have been in what we found a<BR>rather constructive
dialogue with Argentina, Canada and the U.S. on this<BR>issue. We regret this
move to an unnecessary litigation. The EU's regulatory<BR>system for GMOs is
clear, transparent, reasonable and non-discriminatory. We<BR>are confident that
the WTO will confirm that the EU fully respects its<BR>obligations."<BR>David
Byrne, EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection stated:<BR>"Only a
month ago we updated our regulatory system on GMOs in line with the<BR>latest
scientific and international developments. Clear labelling and<BR>traceability
rules are essential to help restore consumer confidence in<BR>GMO's in Europe.²
David Byrne recalled that it is the lack of consumer<BR>demand for GM-products
that accounts for the low sales of GMOs in the EU<BR>market. ³Unless consumers
see that the authorisation process is up to date<BR>and takes into account all
legitimate concerns, consumers will continue to<BR>remain sceptical of GM
products."<BR>EU Commissioner for the Environment Margot Wallström added: "There
should be<BR>no doubt that it is not our intention to create trade barriers. But
my<BR>concern is that this request will muddy the waters of the debate in
Europe.<BR>We have to create confidence among citizens for GMOs and allow them
to<BR>choose - and this is what our new legislative framework is designed to
do.<BR>The EU stance on GMOs is in line with WTO rules."<BR>The European Union
has a clear and transparent framework (Directive<BR>2001/18/EC, repealing
Directive 90/220/EC, and Regulation 258/97) to approve<BR>and market GMOs and
GM-foods in Europe. This involves an independent<BR>scientific assessment in
respect of impact on human, animal and plant health<BR>and the environment
before being approved for marketing. Companies intending<BR>to market GMOs or
foods derived from GMOs in the EU must first submit an<BR>application to a
Member State including a full environmental risk assessment<BR>in the case of
GMOs or a safety assessment in the case of GM foods. The<BR>assessment is sent
to the European Commission who circulates it to all other<BR>Member States. In
case of objections the European Commission seeks an<BR>opinion from the relevant
Scientific Committee (the European Food Safety<BR>Authority in the future) and
takes then a decision. A total of 18 GMOs(1)<BR>and a total of 15 GM foods(2)
are marketed in the EU.<BR>Canada and the U.S. on May 13 and Argentina on May 14
this year requested<BR>WTO consultations on the EU´s authorisation system for
GMOs and GM foods.<BR>They were notably alleging that the EU had suspended the
consideration of<BR>the applications and approval and was maintaining a de-facto
³moratorium² on<BR>new GM varieties. This relates to the fact that since October
1998, no new<BR>GMOs had been authorised for release into the environment under
Directive<BR>90/220/EC as the EU's regulatory regime was being updated to better
address<BR>the challenges posed by modern biotechnology. The new regulatory
framework<BR>was adopted in March 2001 and entered into force in October
2002.<BR>A better labelling and traceability framework for GM-food and GM-feed
was<BR>also adopted in July 2003. It aims to respond to citizens' demands for
more<BR>and better information on GMOs, and the need to facilitate the freedom
of<BR>choice between new and more traditional agri-food products. Therefore,
the<BR>EU system is and will continue to be driven by the concern to ensure a
high<BR>level of human health protection and appropriate protection for
the<BR>environment.<BR>A number of new applications for marketing of GMOs are at
an advanced stage<BR>of examination and may therefore be granted over the coming
months in line<BR>with EU legislation.<BR>Development of consultations<BR>The EU
held the requested consultations with the U.S. and Argentina on 19<BR>June 2003
and with Canada on 25 June 2003. Consultations are the first step<BR>in a WTO
dispute settlement. They open a dialogue process between the<BR>disputing
parties and aim at finding a positive solution to the issue at<BR>stake. In this
spirit, the EU offered to continue the process and used the<BR>opportunity to
provide further details on the regulatory framework and the<BR>situation of all
pending applications so that any misunderstanding could be<BR>dispelled. To the
EU's dismay, upon conclusion of the consultations, the<BR>U.S. immediately
announced that the consultations had failed and that they<BR>would request a
Panel in the very short run. Further exchanges of<BR>information took place with
Canada and Argentina and it was the EU<BR>understanding that these two countries
were interested in pursuing the<BR>consultations.<BR>The EU remains convinced
that an open dialogue in a constructive spirit<BR>would lead to a positive
solution and therefore regrets the move to<BR>requesting a Panel.<BR>The EU
(like any WTO Member) has a legitimate right to ensure that GMOs are<BR>only put
on the market on the basis of a careful assessment of risks and<BR>proper
information to consumers. Several WTO agreements such as the GATT<BR>1994, the
Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the<BR>Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and agreed standards such as<BR>the recently
adopted Codex Alimentarius Principles for the Risk Analysis of<BR>Foods Derived
from Biotechnology all recognise the right for WTO members to<BR>take the
measures at the level they consider appropriate to protect human or<BR>animal
health or the environment. Furthermore, the Cartagena Biosafety<BR>Protocol to
the Convention on Biological Diversity recognises the<BR>specificity of trade in
biotechnology and thus the right to treat GMOs in a<BR>cautious way.<BR>Many
countries around the world have adopted a case by case authorisation<BR>process
for GMOs and GM-foods; some are even maintaining moratoria on<BR>growing
GM-crops.<BR>The allegation that the EU is hindering the great cause of ending
hunger in<BR>Africa is not founded. A large number of countries suffering a
shortage of<BR>food have requested main donors of food aid to avoid GM food. As
all<BR>countries, they have the legitimate right to decide which level
of<BR>protection they need to prevent unintentional dissemination of GM
seeds.<BR>The EU policy in food emergency situation is to source food aid to
the<BR>greatest extent possible in the region to contribute to the development
of<BR>local markets and match the local consumption habits. Food aid should
be<BR>about meeting the urgent humanitarian needs, not about promoting
economic<BR>interests.<BR>In the US itself, in a study of February 2002, the
American National Academy<BR>of Sciences also concluded that there are a number
of inadequacies in the<BR>U.S. regulation of GM plants.<BR>Americans, by a huge
margin, want genetically engineered foods to be<BR>labelled. According to a July
2003 ABC News telephone poll of 1,024 adults,<BR>in fact, a whopping 92 percent
of Americans support labelling.<BR>The EU authorisation system is clear,
transparent, non-discriminatory and<BR>has already proven that it provides
access to the EU market. Many countries<BR>are looking at the EU regulatory
framework to develop their own policy.<BR>Background<BR>WTO consultation and
dispute settlement procedures<BR>The first step in a WTO dispute settlement is a
request for consultation<BR>from the complaining member. The defendant has 10
days to reply to the<BR>request and shall enter into consultation within a
period of no more than 30<BR>days (unless otherwise agreed by the 2 parties).
The consultation should aim<BR>at finding a positive solution to the issue at
stake. If the consultations<BR>fail to settle the dispute within 60 days after
the date of receipt of the<BR>consultation request, the complaining party may
request the Dispute<BR>Settlement Body (DSB) to establish of a Panel (however,
the complaining<BR>party may request a panel during the 60 day period if the 2
parties<BR>considers that the consultations have failed to settle the
dispute).<BR>Once the panellist are nominated, the complaining party has
normally between<BR>3 and 6 weeks to file its first written submission and the
party complained<BR>against another 2/3 weeks to respond. Two oral hearings and
a second written<BR>submission follow. On average a panel procedure lasts 12
months. This can be<BR>followed by an appeal that should not last longer than 90
days. In a case<BR>such as the one at stake here, the necessity of hearing
scientific experts<BR>may prolong the timetable.<BR>For more information go
to:<BR>See also IP/03/681 of 13 May 2003<BR></FONT><A
href="http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/europa/index_en.php"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/europa/index_en.php</FONT></A><BR><A
href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/gmo/gmo_index_en.html"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/gmo/gmo_index_en.html</FONT></A><BR><A
href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/biotechnology/index_en.htm"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/biotechnology/index_en.htm</FONT></A><BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>