Brussels, 23/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The US is disappointed by the proposal presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 22 April and is concerned by its commercial implications. The proposal is to introduce a more flexible regime in the EU for authorising GMOs for human food or animal feed (see EUROPE 11300). On the same day, US Representative for Trade, Michael Froman, expressed concerns about this amendment to the European authorisation procedure, which he believed appeared to ignore scientific data and was difficult to reconcile with internal market and multilateral trade rules, as well as the future free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and US.
Froman stated: “We are very disappointed by today's announcement of the regulatory proposal that appears hard to reconcile with the EU's international obligations. Moreover, dividing the EU into 28 separate markets for the circulation of certain products seems at odds with the EU's goal of deepening the internal market. At a time when the US and the EU are working to create further opportunities for growth and jobs through the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, proposing this kind of trade restrictive action is not constructive”.
The Commission explained that under the terms of this proposal, member states will be able to opt out and restrict or limit the use of these imported GMOs on their territory if they believe it in the general interest and not just because of environmental or health reasons, as long as they respect the internal market rules and the European Union's international obligations.
There are many different stakeholders in the EU, such as the US, which are very concerned by the possibility of market fragmentation. There are also many others as well, who, as opposed to the US Secretary for Trade, are critical of the European Commission for having taken its action under pressure from the biotech industries and the US and have subsequently speeded up the 17 GMO authorisation procedures that are currently still pending, as well as having flouted the opposition of EU citizens to GMOs. There are also many people who are concerned about the opt-out member states can exercise with regard to imported GMOs, such as GM crops but which do not have the legal solidity required to resist attacks from GMOs.
In 2006, a WTO settlements panel ruled that certain member states' safeguard clauses on importing GM crops contravened WTO rules. Last year, the EU imported €3.1 billion worth of GMOs from the US, Argentina, Brazil and Canada. (Aminata Niang)