Brussels / Washington, 12/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission describes as "rumours" information from Washington whereby the US Administration has taken the decision to file a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against maintaining a European moratorium on products containing genetically modified organisms.
The spokesperson for Commissioner Lamy said that, to her knowledge, no decision had been taken but that there were plenty of rumours. She recalled that this threat has been going round for "five years" through comments in the press. On Monday morning, she pointed out, the WTO and the European Commission had not received any notification from the US authorities on opening consultation, which would have proved there was indeed a decision on making multilateral arbitration play its part in this affair. "If and when there is such notification, then we shall examine it before making any comment. For now, it is a little like the chronicle of an announced death, that of an announced complaint", circles familiar with the affair stated with irony. They went on to recall that Europeans have launched a legislative process, still underway, aimed at lifting the moratorium observed by seven Member States since 1999, and a certain number of marketing requests are on the table. The draft agreement strengthening the requirements of traceability and labelling of products containing GMOs, already endorsed by the Council of Ministers, must undergo second reading before the European Parliament, on 21 or 22 May, it is stressed in Brussels, where, they say, they are "ready, as always, to explain (to American officials) why all this is conform to our international obligations".
While the US Congress continues to increase pressure on the Administration, the interministerial decision many times deferred with the approach of US military intervention in Iraq, was divulged over the weekend by American officials who spoke under the cover of anonymity via the press. According to the New York daily, The Wall Street Journal, the White House is still stalling for time in the hope of gaining the support of other protestors such as Canada, Australia and Argentina, all of whom are partners of the Cairns Group of agricultural powers. It also fears that the attack on the commercial front will complicate diplomatic effort made by the Administration within the United Nations regarding the reconstruction of Iraq. According to other sources, President Bush could simply defer the filing of a complaint until the days just before or after the G8 Summit in Evian (France), on 1 and 2 June this year. All the same, European procrastination causes a "deep feeling that we must do something - sooner rather than later - in order to be taken seriously. People are fed up", a source familiar with the dossier in Washington said, while the Trade Representative's office made "no comment". The latter's spokesperson, Richard Mills, simply repeated that the "European moratorium is illegal not only with regards the rules of the Union but also those of the WTO", and "must be lifted".