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2009-07-31 | permalink
EU and Canada settle WTO case on gene-modified products
The European Union and Canada settled a World Trade Organization complaint over the way the EU approves imports of genetically modified products. The agreement signed today in Geneva ”provides for the establishment of a regular dialogue on issues of mutual interest on agriculture biotechnology,” the European Commission said in a statement from Brussels. Canada, the U.S. and Argentina complained about the EU’s biotech policy in May 2003. The WTO ruled in September 2006 that a six-year ban the EU imposed on biotech foods until 2004 was illegal. When the EU lifted the ban, it tightened labeling rules and created a food agency to screen applications. Since then, it’s used an approval process that the U.S. complains is too slow, issuing about a dozen authorizations of gene-modified products for human food and animal feed and has yet to allow cultivation.
- Bloomberg, USA: EU, Canada settle WTO case on gene-modified products
- The New York Times, USA: Canada settles a crop trade complaint against Europe
- Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada: Canada and European Communities end WTO dispute on genetically modified organisms
- National Post, Canada: EU drops ban on Canadian genetically modified canola
- New Europe, Belgium: Canada drops WTO complaint on EU biotech rules
Overview
News
2009-07-31 | permalink
EU and Canada settle WTO case on gene-modified products
The European Union and Canada settled a World Trade Organization complaint over the way the EU approves imports of genetically modified products. The agreement signed today in Geneva ”provides for the establishment of a regular dialogue on issues of mutual interest on agriculture biotechnology,” the European Commission said in a statement from Brussels. Canada, the U.S. and Argentina complained about the EU’s biotech policy in May 2003. The WTO ruled in September 2006 that a six-year ban the EU imposed on biotech foods until 2004 was illegal. When the EU lifted the ban, it tightened labeling rules and created a food agency to screen applications. Since then, it’s used an approval process that the U.S. complains is too slow, issuing about a dozen authorizations of gene-modified products for human food and animal feed and has yet to allow cultivation.
- Bloomberg, USA: EU, Canada settle WTO case on gene-modified products
- The New York Times, USA: Canada settles a crop trade complaint against Europe
- Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada: Canada and European Communities end WTO dispute on genetically modified organisms
- National Post, Canada: EU drops ban on Canadian genetically modified canola
- New Europe, Belgium: Canada drops WTO complaint on EU biotech rules
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