BRUSSELS: The European Union is set to propose new rules that would allow individual member states to ban the sale of genetically modified crops for nonscientific reasons, drawing waves of criticism from the bloc’s trading partners and the food industry on both sides of the Atlantic.
The U.S. and South American nations fear the plan could wreak havoc on agricultural trade with Europe. These nations export billions of dollars of biotech crops to the 28-nation bloc every year, mainly for use in animal feed. European farm groups are also strongly opposed, as are U.S. biotech giants such as Monsanto Co.
The expected proposal is an attempt by Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to seek a lasting compromise on Europe’s regulation of biotech crops. The bloc is bitterly divided on the issue: Some nations such as the Netherlands, the U.K. and Spain support the technology, while France, Austria and others are opposed.
The European Parliament and EU national governments must approve the commission’s proposal before it can become law.
The EU’s trading partners are warning the proposal could run afoul of international trade rules enforced by the World Trade Organization, setting up a confrontation at the Geneva-based arbiter of trade disputes. U.S. officials also worry the plan could undermine domestic support in the U.S. for reaching a deal on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, the sweeping trade deal now under negotiation with the EU.
Under the plan, which officials say will be unveiled on Wednesday, the commission would promptly approve biotech crops for import after they have been deemed safe by EU scientific authorities. That has been a long-standing gripe from U.S. officials and the biotech industry: Crops that have passed scientific reviews get stuck in Europe’s regulatory limbo; the commission is reluctant to defy member states that oppose biotechnology by approving the crops, even though it has the legal authority to do so.
But the proposal would also allow a member state to ban the use of these crops if it believes there is an “overriding” public interest. EU lawyers say this provision, reflecting what is essentially moral opposition to biotechnology in some EU nations, would allow bans under WTO rules, even on biotech crops that have passed safety reviews.
“We have some serious concerns on the potential outcome of such a revision” to the biotech rules, the ambassadors to the EU from the U.S., Canada, Argentina and Brazil wrote to the commission earlier this month. “We trust that the commission will ensure that any options under consideration are fully consistent with the EU’s WTO obligations.”
“Generally, all roads lead back to the core principle of sound science,” said Brendan McGivern, a WTO expert at the law firm White & Case in Geneva.
EU scientific authorities have repeatedly found that most biotech crops are safe for the environment and for human consumption. But only one variety, a corn engineered by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto, is approved to be grown in Europe. The EU earlier this year finalized rules that allow individual nations to ban biotech crops from being grown on their own territory, even if they are approved by the commission.
Now the EU is going much further in seeking to allow national governments to restrict all uses of the crop on their territories.
The EU has approved 58 biotech plants for importing into the bloc as food and animal feed. But 19 that have cleared scientific review are still awaiting final approval.
The commission will approve those 19 plants for import in the coming weeks as part of its proposal, EU officials said. Governments wouldn’t have the chance to ban the sale of these strains on their territory.
The proposal could have a significant on animal farmers in Europe. They rely on soybean animal feed imported from Brazil, the U.S., Argentina and Paraguay, 90% of which are biotech, the commission says. These four countries exported €11.6 billion ($12.5 billion) of soybean products to the EU last year, 90% of the bloc’s total imports.
Critics say the proposal would undermine the bloc’s internal market, potentially creating logistical nightmares for farmers and food companies dealing with a patchwork of restrictions across the EU.
“We are particularly disappointed,” said Mella Frewen, director of FoodDrinkEurope, which represents the EU food industry, “because the proposal shakes the foundations of the customs union and the single market.”