The [GM] dispute appeared to sour the mood of the summit (item 2)

"It is one thing to disagree," Mr Lamy told reporters. "It is another thing to use starvation to advance a position in this debate."

Mr Lamy returned the accusations yesterday, charging that US policy was being driven by farmers who feared they would no longer be able to dump surplus food on Africa in the form of food aid.

US trade officials say they hold little hope that Europe's staunch opposition to GM food will change. Instead, the WTO challenge was launched in an effort to prevent other countries from emulating the EU's policy. (item 1)
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Europeans not amused by Bush's rhetoric
By Edward Alden in Washington
Financial Times, June 26 2003
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1054966440194

The Europeans laughed, according to Mr Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer, but they were clearly not amused.  Pascal Lamy, the EU trade commissioner, used the summit to urge Mr Bush personally to tone down his rhetoric on the issue, which is the subject of a contentious trade dispute between the US and Europe.

The EU has maintained a de facto moratorium on approving new genetically modified foods since 1998, and last week the US launched a World Trade Organisation dispute case to overturn the ban.

Mr Bush has twice in the past month accused Europe of worsening starvation in Africa by discouraging countries from embracing biotechnologies that the US says would greatly increase agricultural productivity. That has sparked angry denunciations from Europe, which spilled over into yesterday's summit meeting.

"It is one thing to disagree," Mr Lamy told reporters. "It is another thing to use starvation to advance a position in this debate."

The European Commission has been urging EU member states to lift the ban and begin approval of new GM products, and Mr Lamy said yesterday that the US accusations would "not help those in Europe who want to rationalise the debate about GMOs".

But Mr Lamy returned the accusations yesterday, charging that US policy was being driven by farmers who feared they would no longer be able to dump surplus food on Africa in the form of food aid.

"The fact this is seen [in Europe as being] pushed by US agribusiness, which has lots of surpluses, doesn't make it easier for those of us trying to find a solution to the problem," he said.

US trade officials say they hold little hope that Europe's staunch opposition to GM food will change. Instead, the WTO challenge was launched in an effort to prevent other countries from emulating the EU's policy.

Robert Zoellick, the US trade representative, said the US would continue to press the issue publicly in an effort to persuade the rest of the world of the virtues of GM food and increase pressure on Europe to end its ban on biotechnology. While that might complicate the Commission's internal efforts to lift the ban, "we have to think globally".

He said that a number of African leaders had told him personally and said publicly that they were "afraid of developing biotechnology products because they can't sell them in Europe".

He added: "If the European public recognises some of the issues in this for the rest of the world, maybe it will move the debate."
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US, EU GM food rift widens
From correspondents in Washington
The Daily Telegraph (Australia), 26jun03
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6655897%255E401,00.html

A US-EU rift over genetically modified foods spilled out into the open today at a summit of the world's largest trading blocs, with officials bitterly criticising each other's positions.

The dispute appeared to sour the mood of the summit, which sought to ease some of the growing trade differences between Washington and Brussels, but officials said they were making progress in other areas.

Pascal Lamy, the EU trade commission, acknowledged after a series of meetings in Washington, including with US President George W Bush, that the discussions on biotech foods were "maybe not exactly taking the right direction".

"We have a difference and we haven't yet found the right balance to live with this difference," he told reporters in a joint briefing with US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

Lamy said EU officials reject the US view that Europe's refusal of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which include crops like corn and soybeans, is hurting efforts to curb starvation in Africa and other poor countries.

"It's one thing disagreeing (about policies), it's another thing to use starvation in Africa for this, I'm sorry to say we don't accept this argument."

Zoellick told reporters he missed a White House session in which the issue arose and that "the president and Pascal got into it".<P> Zoellick said Washington, which has already filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation on the biotech issue, would continue to press for a public debate on the issue.

"We believe it is important to engage in a public debate," Zoellick said.

"There are a number of Africans that have told me they are afraid of developing biotech products because they can't sell it to Europe ... if the European public recognises some of the issues ... maybe it will move (officials') thinking."

Meanwhile Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who heads the EU summit delegation, defended the European de facto moratorium on genetically engineered foods.

"Our public opinion is very sensitive to this issue ... There is a
difference of mentality," he said.

Bush, in a speech to a biotechnology conference Monday, said the EU's opposition to biotech had a chilling effect on African efforts to harness the technology to fight famine.

European officials had denied the accusation Monday and said they hoped the "misunderstanding" would be cleared up at today's EU-US summit.

Bush tried to make light of the dispute, jokingly inviting visiting European leaders to feast on genetically modified foods.

After meeting with European Commission president Romano Prodi and Simitis, whose country holds the revolving EU presidency through June 30, Bush "did jokingly say, as he got up from the table, 'Let's go eat some genetically modified food for lunch,'" said spokesman Ari Fleischer.

"He said it with a big smile and everybody laughed," he added, refusing to say whether anything on the menu at the working lunch was, in fact, genetically modified.

Meanwhile, officials said they were continuing to advance the agenda for liberalised global trade rules under the Doha round of talks, a wide-ranging tariff reform plan that is planned for next year.

"We're working to try to get the Doha agenda done," Zoellick said.

In response to a question about the slow pace of the talks, Zoellick said, "If it wasn't for the United States and the EU, the Doha negotiations would not be launched ... It's a once in a generation opportunity, we have to be bold, we have to open markets."

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