E.U. Will Not Appeal WTO Ruling, notes Israel Rafalovich
Brussels - The European Union does not intend to appeal the WTO ruling that the EU is illegally blocking imports of GM food from the United States and other biotech states.
Environmental groups blasted the European Union for failing to pursue an appeal. NGOs insist that countries have a right to ban GM.
"This sets a dangerous precedence for future environmental disputes", Friends of the Earth Europe said, and added: "It is not for the WTO to decide what we eat or how we protect our environment."
The United States said that the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) decision means that the European Union will have to speed up its GM approval process and claims also that the European Union approval process is based on "politically motivated delays."
In Brussels, the European Union insisted that the decision not to appeal the WTO ruling does not mean that the gates will now open to GM.
A spokesman of the European Commission told reporters that the "commission has decided not to appeal the GM decision, as the current regulatory provisions are not in any way affected by the judgment."
Argentina, Canada and the United States, which brought the dispute to the WTO, said that the decision by the WTO has proven that there was no scientific evidence to justify the ban. The three countries have urged the European Union member states to immediately bring into compliance its laws on GMOs.
The European Union had already signaled its intention to ignore the World Trade Organisation’s findings, that the six-year moratorium on the GMOs, beginning in 1998, violated international rules.
The E.U. says that it ended the moratorium in 2004, when it allowed onto the European market a modified strain of sweet corm that is grown mainly in the United States and so it has come into compliance with the subsequent approval of other biotech crops.
Genetically modified foods are controversial in Europe and the United States and European governments, such as Germany and France, as well as environmental groups, contend that many such crops are unsafe for humans and the environment.
The WTO ruling did not rule on whether the current European Union legislation was illegal and sidestepped the question of whether biotech foods were safe.
The European Commission will have to find a way to deal with the issue of national bans which are still in place and has asked the plaintiffs for "a reasonable period of time to work with the E.U. member states on their national legislation.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
Please also see:
EU refuses to fight WTO ruling on GM foods
Dangerous precedent set for future disputes, says Friends of the Earth Europe http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2006/AB_21_Nov_WTO_no_appeal.htm
Say no to genetic engineering (photo source)
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering
WTO Secretariat reports new anti-dumping investigations continue to decline, while new final measures show increase
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres06_e/pr458_e.htm
Brussels - The European Union does not intend to appeal the WTO ruling that the EU is illegally blocking imports of GM food from the United States and other biotech states.
Environmental groups blasted the European Union for failing to pursue an appeal. NGOs insist that countries have a right to ban GM.
"This sets a dangerous precedence for future environmental disputes", Friends of the Earth Europe said, and added: "It is not for the WTO to decide what we eat or how we protect our environment."
The United States said that the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) decision means that the European Union will have to speed up its GM approval process and claims also that the European Union approval process is based on "politically motivated delays."
In Brussels, the European Union insisted that the decision not to appeal the WTO ruling does not mean that the gates will now open to GM.
A spokesman of the European Commission told reporters that the "commission has decided not to appeal the GM decision, as the current regulatory provisions are not in any way affected by the judgment."
Argentina, Canada and the United States, which brought the dispute to the WTO, said that the decision by the WTO has proven that there was no scientific evidence to justify the ban. The three countries have urged the European Union member states to immediately bring into compliance its laws on GMOs.
The European Union had already signaled its intention to ignore the World Trade Organisation’s findings, that the six-year moratorium on the GMOs, beginning in 1998, violated international rules.
The E.U. says that it ended the moratorium in 2004, when it allowed onto the European market a modified strain of sweet corm that is grown mainly in the United States and so it has come into compliance with the subsequent approval of other biotech crops.
Genetically modified foods are controversial in Europe and the United States and European governments, such as Germany and France, as well as environmental groups, contend that many such crops are unsafe for humans and the environment.
The WTO ruling did not rule on whether the current European Union legislation was illegal and sidestepped the question of whether biotech foods were safe.
The European Commission will have to find a way to deal with the issue of national bans which are still in place and has asked the plaintiffs for "a reasonable period of time to work with the E.U. member states on their national legislation.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
Please also see:
EU refuses to fight WTO ruling on GM foods
Dangerous precedent set for future disputes, says Friends of the Earth Europe http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2006/AB_21_Nov_WTO_no_appeal.htm
Say no to genetic engineering (photo source)
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering
WTO Secretariat reports new anti-dumping investigations continue to decline, while new final measures show increase
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres06_e/pr458_e.htm