US expects allies for gene crop case against EU
Date: 06-Feb-03
Country: SWITZERLAND
Peter Allgeier, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, told reporters Washington was in consultations with potential allies on the timing of any WTO action against the EU's four-year-old moratorium on approval of genetically modified (GM) products.
"I am very confident there will be others. I do not think we will be faced with a decision on whether to go it alone," Allgeier told a news conference late yesterday.
But he declined to name the countries or to say when a final decision might be taken.
"Just think of major agriculture exporting countries," he said when asked to name some of the possible allies.
EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fishcler, on a visit to the United States, said yesterday the U.S. had still to make up its mind about whether to bring the case, which the EU has warned could strain trade relations and intensify opposition within the 15-nation bloc to GM foods