President says European rules hurt third-world nations
By
Geoff Dyer
FINANCIAL
TIMES
WASHINGTON, June 23 — President George W. Bush on Monday stepped up the pressure on the European Union to overturn its ban on genetically-modified organisms. Speaking at the annual conference of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) in Washington, Mr. Bush said European governments had blocked the import of biotechnology crops “based on unfounded and unscientific fears.”
AS A RESULT, many African nations were afraid to use GM crops for fear that they would not get access to European markets.
“For the sake of a continent threatened by famine, I urge the European governments to end their opposition to biotechnology,” he added.
With the U.S. having launched a World Trade Organization case to overturn Europe’s de facto moratorium on modified foods, Mr. Bush’s tough rhetoric on Monday formed part of a coordinated campaign from the administration to promote GM foods and crops. It was the second time in the past month that Mr. Bush had chided Europe over the issue.
At an international conference on agricultural technology sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which began on Monday in Sacramento, Calif., U.S. officials emphasized the benefits of genetically engineered agriculture to the developing world.
Following several years of sparring over the GM issue, the U.S. said last week it would seek a dispute settlement panel in the WTO over the EU ban.
The EU imposed a moratorium on approval of new GM foods in 1998 because of fears over consumer safety. However, officials have been working to lift the ban and replacing it with a regime that would require consumer labeling of GM foods, a measure also opposed by the U.S.
The U.S. administration argues that as well as discriminating against U.S. crops, the ban has influenced other countries to oppose genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). Last year, two African countries rejected food aid from the U.S. that contained GM crops, despite severe food crises.
On Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Sacramento to protest against the U.S. government’s energetic promotion of GM crops, which they said would damage small farmers in poor countries and were being pushed by the administration to satisfy its corporate backers.
Ann Veneman, agriculture secretary, told the conference, which is being attended by agriculture officials from more than 100 governments: “Biotechnology is already helping both small and large-scale farmers around the world by boosting yields, lowering costs, reducing pesticide use and making crops more resistant to disease, pests, and drought.”
To bolster the case for GM crops at the conference, Bio invited a group of African scientists and farmers to talk about the benefits of biotechnology to agriculture.
Florence Wambugu, president of Kenya’s Harvest Biotech Foundation, said: “Africa missed the green revolution and it must not miss the biotech revolution. Africa urgently needs cultural biotechnology, including transgenic crops, to improve food production.”
African governments and scientists wanted biotech crops, despite the “gross misinformation and political maneuvering” of anti-biotech activists, she said, and 12 African countries were introducing biosafety laws to prepare for their planting.
However, speaking at a conference in
Washington last week, Amadou Kanoute, regional director of the African office of
Consumers International, said the spread of U.S. biotechnology crops would put
small-scale African farmers at a disadvantage. “You will plunge Africa into
greater food dependency,” Mr. Kanoute said.
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