The American Soybean Association (ASA) today applauded a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against the European Union’s (EU) ban on the approval of biotech-enhanced agricultural products. The decision finalizes a preliminary WTO ruling made in February.

"ASA advocates that decisions regarding approval of agricultural biotechnology products must be based on objective risk analyses, not political pressures, and must be consistent with the requirements in the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures," said ASA President Rick Ostlie, a soybean producer from Northwood, N. Dak. "The EU’s actions have been highly discriminatory and commercially unfeasible."

In May 2003, the United States filed a WTO case against the EU’s illegal five-year moratorium on approval of food and feed products enhanced through biotechnology. Numerous other countries, including Australia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Uruguay, joined the United States in the complaint because they also want to ensure that science-based determinations are applied to regulatory decisions.

The conclusions of a publicly released WTO panel draft interim report on the EU’s moratorium on the approval of biotechnology products stated these key conclusions:

• International trade rules fully support trade in products of biotechnology for planting, processing and marketing, subject to science-based regulation;
• De facto bans or moratoria on approvals by Europe and other WTO member countries will not escape scrutiny;
• The Biosafety Protocol and the Convention on Biodiversity are not relevant to the interpretation of the issues on the moratorium;
• Measures taken under the guise of the Precautionary Principal absent relevant scientific evidence are not justified;
• Politically motivated bans or moratoria by WTO member states are not consistent with members’ WTO obligations.

"ASA strongly supports the U.S. Trade Representative and the Bush Administration in the U.S. WTO action against the European Union," Ostlie said. "Half the value of the U.S. soybean crop is exported to global markets that were built over the past 50 years as a result of ASA’s international marketing efforts and the diligence of the U.S. government to promote fair trade."

ASA urges the USTR to insist the EU meet its obligations. Decisions on products currently in the pipeline should be finalized as soon as possible. Reviews of subsequent applications must be timely and consistent. Additionally, it is essential that the EU Member States also comply with the WTO decision. These critical actions are important to end the trade barriers erected by the EU and to guide other WTO members’ decisions so that they do not institute bans or non-science based approval systems in violation of their obligations.

"While welcoming this WTO ruling against Europe’s flawed and non-science based approval process, ASA is also calling on the Bush Administration to mount a WTO challenge against Europe’s discriminatory traceability and labeling laws that apply to biotech crops," Ostlie said. "This favorable WTO ruling should only be seen as ‘step one’ of the actions against Europe’s unjustified and unscientific policies toward biotechnology."

In 1997, the EU introduced mandatory labeling requirements for all foods with detectable presence of ingredients derived from biotech crops. In March 2004, the EU implemented new legislation that significantly broadened the scope of those labeling requirements. Labeling is now required for all foods and feeds that contain or consist of biotech products, regardless of whether that presence is detectable through testing. 

The EU imposed these requirements despite repeated pronouncements by EU scientific committees that biotech foods and feeds are entirely safe. Indeed, many EU leaders have admitted that the labels serve no food safety purpose. Nevertheless, consumers perceive the labels as health warnings, and most EU food companies and retailers have therefore decided against marketing labeled foods. As a result, U.S. exports of biotech products to the EU, including U.S. soybeans, have fallen sharply.

"With this WTO victory fresh in hand against Europe’s discriminatory biotech system, the United States and our allies must now challenge Europe’s even more egregious biotech traceability and labeling rules," Ostlie said. "These unfair and non-science based rules are costing U.S. soybeans farmers and U.S. food companies hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales each year. ASA looks forward to working closely with U.S. Trade Representative and others in the Administration to mount such a WTO challenge."