1.EU says WTO ruling won't change its GMO approach
2.Europe bridles at WTO view on national biotech

EXCERPT: "The protection of people and the environment have absolute priority, and the most recent scientific research vindicates our cautious approach in this matter," said Austrian Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat, responsible for national GMO policy.

"We will exhaust all possibilities to keep Austria's agriculture GM-free and ensure consumers' safety." (item 2)
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1.EU says WTO ruling won't change its GMO approach
8 February, 2006
http://www.heraldnewsdaily.com/stories/news-00138418.html

BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Wednesday a WTO ruling that it broke trade rules by barring entry to genetically modified (GMO) crops and foods between 1999 and 2003 will not change how it deals with GMOs in the future.

"This interim report is largely of historical interest, as this panel will not alter the system or framework within which the EU takes decisions on GMOs," Commission trade spokesman Peter Power said in a statement.
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2.Europe bridles at WTO view on national biotech bans
Reuters, 8 February, 2006 By Jeremy Smith http://www.alertnet.org/redir/righsection_rel_art__index_htm/thenews/newsdesk/L08210482.htm

BRUSSELS - European countries bristled on Wednesday at a world trade ruling that touches on national sovereignty over genetically modified (GMO) foods, with some saying they would do their level best to keep farming GMO-free.

Europe's consumers are well known for their skepticism, if not hostility, to GMO crops, often dubbed as "Frankenstein foods." The biotech industry insists their products are perfectly safe, however, and no different to conventional foods.

Late on Tuesday, a World Trade Organization panel ruled that various EU countries -- Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg -- had broken international trade rules by imposing national bans on marketing and growing specific GMOs.

Some of those countries reacted angrily to the WTO ruling, saying they would defend their legal right to block EU-approved products if they wanted, since this was the will of consumers. EU law dictates that such bans must be scientifically justified.

Austria, one of the EU's staunchest biotech skeptics, has banned imports of three GMO maize types and is considering a ban on growing a GMO rapeseed. Government officials say they will continue to be as restrictive as possible for the time being.

"The protection of people and the environment have absolute priority, and the most recent scientific research vindicates our cautious approach in this matter," said Austrian Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat, responsible for national GMO policy.

"We will exhaust all possibilities to keep Austria's agriculture GM-free and ensure consumers' safety."

Last June, EU governments rebuffed attempts by the European Commission to order the five countries to lift their national GMO bans: the first time that the bloc has managed to agree anything on biotech policy since 1998.

The Commission didn't think the bans were justified, and nor did the WTO in its ruling on the case filed by Argentina, Canada and the United States. It also said the EU's de facto GMO moratorium between 1999 and 2003 broke world trade rules.

France, home to anti-GMO and free trade firebrand Jose Bove, has a long-standing consumer opposition to biotech food. Europe's agricultural powerhouse, France bans two types of GMO rapeseed but has allowed some small-scale growing of GMO maize.

French consumer and farming groups deplored the WTO ruling, insisting that a large majority of consumers were firmly opposed to GMOs and said the EU's temporary approvals ban was correct.

"We think the moratorium was totally justified insofar as we need to assess GMOs' benefits for consumers as well as their potential risks," Olivier Arnault, food officer at France's largest consumer group UMC-Que Choisir, told Reuters.

A poll published in France this week showed that 78 percent of those questioned would like a temporary ban on GMO products in order to evaluate their health and environmental impact.

Green groups said consumer resistance to GMOs has increased in Europe since the three major GMO growers filed their WTO complaint in 2003. The ruling will not encourage consumers to buy more GMOs, they say, and maybe make the opposition stronger.

"The WTO has bluntly ruled that European safeguards (bans) should be sacrificed to benefit biotech corporations," said Adrian Bebb, GMO campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe.

"This will backfire and lead to even greater opposition to genetically modified food and crops. Consumers worldwide will not be bullied into eating GM foods."

U.S. officials regretted there was a level of misinformation in Europe about the benefits of biotech crops but hoped that the WTO ruling would let the EU open its doors more to GMO imports.

"It is unfortunate the extent to which certain groups have decided to demagogue the issue and mischaracterize the quality ... and environmental implications of biotechnology," Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab told reporters.

"The proof will be in trade flows and transparency and ease of approval processes. Time will tell," she said in Brussels.

(Additional reporting by Boris Groendahl in Vienna, Silvia Aloisi in Rome, William Schomberg in Brussels, Sybille de La Hamaide and David Evans in Paris)

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