Hocus-pocus laws
 

US holds fire on EU GM food ban
Activists in Europe continue to protest against GM produce
BBC

The United States says it will suspend temporarily its right to impose sanctions on EU goods in a trade dispute over biotech crops. The EU missed a World Trade Organisation (WTO) deadline on Friday to end restrictions on imports of some genetically modified (GM) products.

US trade spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel said the EU would be given the chance to show "meaningful progress".

She said the US remained very concerned with EU treatment of biotech products.

"We are taking steps necessary under WTO rules to preserve our right in the WTO to suspend trade concessions," she said, adding that the Bush administration would assess EU policy periodically.

Austrian problem

The case was also brought by Argentina and Canada with all three countries arguing their farmers lost money because of GM bans.

Ms Hamel said that genetically engineered crops now accounted for a substantial share of US farm production and exports.

The EU has difficulty complying with the ruling, chiefly because of a ban on GM products by Austria.

But the US trade spokeswoman singled out France for most criticism, following its decision to extend a ban on the only GM crop currently grown there.

In December, Paris imposed a temporary ban on the commercial sale of a genetically modified crop (MON 810) developed by the US biotech company, Monsanto.

"It is hard to overstate our disappointment," Ms Hamel said.

In 1998, the EU introduced a moratorium on new biotech authorisations that lasted six years. The three countries behind the complaint to the WTO argued that the ban was about protectionism rather than science.

Biotech crops, including corn and soybeans that have been genetically modified to resist insects or disease, have been widely grown in the US for years.

One of many trades the US made in exchange for the Brits not challenging the UIGEA, I expect.

Good! GM crops are the devil!

So if I get this right, the U.S. wants to export genetically modified ag commodities to the EU, but certain EU countries ban GM food products. The U.S. is understandably disappointed at this reduction in the opportunity to sell our products abroad, but we aren't invoking sanctions yet. Right?

Personally, I'm ambivalent about GM food products. They seem ok so far from a health perspective, but I tend not to trust anything that hasn't been in fairly widespread use for at least 20 years.

Kinda of a catch 22, isn't it? Can't be widespread without going out there and can't go out there without being widespread.

Not at all. Something can very easily be widespread without ME using it. I was the last kid in high school to go to CD's instead of tapes. My vehicles all had carburetors until the early 21st century. I didn't have a cell phone until 2004. ABS, traction control, stability control, tire pressure monitoring, airbags? Still don't have them or want them.

Crop scientists are NOT creating genes de novo. They are capturing genes and sticking into frankenplants and such. This is almost exactly what has been going on in ag and animal husbandry for 10,000 years -- selective breeding. What is different is two things.

1. Dramatic shorten of time from crossing effort to farm.

2. Ability to introduce genes across phyla.

But there are no new genes ...... Yet.

It's #2 that has some people worried.