In May last year, the US, Canada and Argentina initiated a World Trade Organisation (WTO) challenge to the European Union’s (EU’s) genetically modified organism (GMO) approval system. Noting that the EU had not granted a new GMO product authorisation over the past six years, the complaining countries are arguing that the EU is maintaining a de facto moratorium that is without scientific basis, unnecessarily restricts international trade in biotech crops, and therefore violates EU obligations under a number of WTO agreements.
For its part, the EU is arguing that consumer scepticism and lack of demand are the real reason for the inability of these products to penetrate the EU market. They further claim that they have already established a step-by-step approval process that must be followed before any GMO, or any product containing GMOs, can be released into the environment or placed on the market. That system is expected to be implemented some time in April 2004 once the EU’s new GMO labelling and traceability rules take effect. David Byrne, the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs, has stated that he anticipates a new GMO product authorisation to be issued by the end of April or the beginning of May.
