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- EU meets US over GM trade war
- 2003
- 10 reasons supermarket mergers are bad for consumers, farmers and small businesses
- Asda spinach over pesticide levels
- Asda/Wal-Mart exploits planning loophole
- Biting back at GM crops
- Blair sacks Meacher
- Committee Stage for Recycling Bill
- Cornwall goes GM-free
- Credibility of GM public debate hangs by a thread
- Cumbria goes GM-free
- Deplorable attack on GM scientific critic
- Devon votes to go GM-free
- Dorset demands caution over GM crops
- EU commission calls for GM contamination of organic food to be allowed
- EU meets US over GM trade war
- Farmers and consumers must have a say in Wal-Mart takeover
- Fat cats fight over Safeway, consumers and farmers are real losers
- Fat-cat Tesco: putting on the pounds at farmers' expense
- Garden pesticides health warning
- GM activists make a pilgrimage for a GM-free Britain
- GM activists make a pilgrimage for a GM-free Britain
- GM beet research answers very few questions
- GM contamination - Government experts disagree
- GM jury challenges FSA policy on labelling
- GM public debate fiasco
- GM study highlights need for urgent rethink over GM crops
- GM trade war - who decides what we eat?
- GM trade war accelerates
- GM won't cure hunger in Africa
- GM-free food could be "impossible"
- Government agrees to delay GM debate
- Government failing to regulate supermarkets, says new report
- Government launches GM debate
- Government may ignore public opinion on GM crops
- Government must address GM debate chaos say groups
- Government must clarify role of GM debate
- Government opposes tough Euro GM rules
- Government report on economics of GM crops
- Government to publish GM science review
- Government urges MEPs to vote for GM food
- Government warns GM farmers over contamination threat
- Hundreds of pesticides banned
- Hundreds turn out for Waste lobby
- Illegal GM contamination threat
- Is Tesco spin on Safeway takeover a joke?
- Lake District National Park first to go GM-free
- Lake District National Park to host GM debate
- Local campaigners call for GM-free Britain election pledge
- MEPs back tougher GM labels
- Ministers try to stop GM food labels
- Morrisons take-over bad news for consumers
- MPs call for extension to GM national debate
- New analysis casts doubt on GM farm scale evaluations
- New maps reveal massive extent of GM pollution threat
- Pesticide review fails consumers and farmers
- Recycling Bill clears the Commons
- Safeway decision must wait for code review
- Sainsbury's: making life taste bitter for banana growers
- Scepticism as GM debate ends
- Second reading for Recycling Bill
- Shameful EU plans for growing GM crops
- Shropshire goes gm-free
- Slow progress on pesticide residues
- Slow progress on pesticide residues
- South Gloucestershire votes to go GM-free
- South Hams votes to go GM-free
- Stop Safeway stitch-up, alliance demands
- Supermarket code fails farmers
- Supermarket code fails farmers
- Supermarkets continue to shun GM food
- Supermarkets must be blocked from Safeway takeover
- The US ghost fleet – behind the hype
- UK votes to keep highly toxic pesticide
- UN treaty regulating GM to become law
- Uncertainty over GM safety
- US files WTO GM complaint
- US threat over GM food
- Warwickshire goes GM-free
- Why the Safeway take-over must be stopped
EU meets US over GM trade war18 June 2003
Friends of the Earth International, the world's largest environmental network, has urged the European Union to stand firm against the United State's aggressive attempt to force genetically modified (GM) foods into Europe. The two sides met on 19 June in Geneva as part of the official consultation process.
The US started proceedings against the EU's de facto moratorium through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 13 May 2003, along with Argentina, Canada and Egypt, and supported by nine other countries. But as the trade war reaches its first stage, Friends of the Earth pointed out that the coalition, and its arguments, are "weak and on shaky ground". This is because:
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Egypt, El Salvador and Honduras will not now take part in the official WTO consultation.
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Canada has distanced itself from the US, requesting a separate consultation with the EU.
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Many of the countries originally supporting the US also have either bans or moratoria for GMO products, including New Zealand (moratorium on planting GMOs), Australia (regional bans), Peru (ban on GMO crops), El Salvador (ban on GMO seeds) and Mexico (ban on GM corn).
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India, a big agricultural country, has also requested to take part in the consultations. India is in the process of developing.
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Last week the 50th ratification of the UN Biosafety Protocol was announced, so the Treaty will enter into force in 2003.
"The US-led attempt to force-feed the world genetically modified foods appears to be losing support," said Friends of the Earth Trade Campaigner, Eve Mitchell. "The right of countries to take a precautionary approach on any new technology is fundamental to protecting people and the environment. The EU must stand firm in this dispute not only for its own sake but also for the increasing number of world citizens who are concerned about GM."
"The US administration, pushed by corporate lobby groups, resorted to the use of the undemocratic and secretive WTO in an attempt to force GM foods to the world into Europe," said Friends of the Earth International Chairperson, Ricardo Navarro. "But decisions about GM policies should not be made at the WTO or the White House."
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