US farm group seeks immediate WTO case on EU biotech
Date: 19-Dec-02
Country: USA
"It is imperative that U.S. agriculture and other countries around the
world understand that your administration is committed to enforcing
the terms of trade agreements," American Farm Bureau Federation
President Bob Stallman wrote in a letter to President George W. Bush.
The organization, which represents more than 5 million U.S. farmers,
called on Bush to "take immediate action" to initiate a WTO complaint
against the EU.
The WTO has ruled illegal the EU's 4-year-old moratorium on new
biotech products.
While the European Commission has been trying to lift that ban, it is
meeting resistance from some member countries.
Earlier this week, the incoming chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, also urged the Bush
administration to launch a legal case against the EU.
Stallman said the EU's moratorium has resulted in millions of dollars
in lost sales for U.S. farmers, including corn growers.
About 70 percent of U.S. soybeans and a quarter of the U.S. corn crop
is grown from genetically-modified seeds.
The farm group's letter came just one month after the organization
joined with 25 other U.S. agriculture groups urging U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Zoellick to file a WTO complaint.
While some key Bush administration officials favor filing the case,
the decision was awaiting consideration by Bush's Cabinet, according
to sources.
On Monday, David Hegwood, special trade adviser to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, noted the urgency in getting the EU moratorium lifted.
But he also left open the possibility of a case not being filed.
"If we can get the moratorium lifted without taking a case, then it
saves us a whole lot of time and trouble. But that's our ultimate
objective, to get the moratorium lifted," Hegwood told reporters.
Hegwood also noted that filing a WTO complaint could have an impact on
other U.S.-EU trade disputes and could create a backlash against
biotech foods by European consumers.