CLASHES OVER AGBIOTECH

Abstract

OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, THE RIFT BETWEEN THE U.S. and Europe over genetically engineered foods has widened. During this time, a blocking minority of European member states placed a de facto moratorium on newbiotech crop approvals. The moratorium angers U.S. farmers and their allies on Capitol Hill because it restricts exports of agricultural commodities to Europe. The impact of this moratorium is not trivial. Because the European Union refuses to accept corn shipments with genetically engineered content, the annual value of U.S. corn exports to Europe declined from $191 million in 1997 to less than $2 million in 2001. U.S. food processors are angry that the EU is developing legislation that will require all biotech foods and products derived from them to be labeled and to be traceable from the farm to the consumer. According to EU legislation, the exact strains of all genetically engineered crops must be listed ...