The Hindu : E.U.-Bush spat on GM foods

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 25, 2003

International

International

E.U.-Bush spat on GM foods

BRUSSELS june 24. The European Union on Tuesday rejected a complaint from the U.S. President, George W. Bush, that the E.U.'s restrictions on genetically modified crops were hurting poor African farmers.

``It is false we are anti-biotechnology or anti-developing countries,'' said a E.U. spokesman. ``These things said by the United States are simply not true.''

On Monday, Mr. Bush criticised European restrictions on bio-engineered food, saying they were based on unfounded, unscientific health fears. ``Because of these artificial obstacles, many African nations avoid investing in biotechnology, worried that their products will be shut out of important European markets,'' Mr. Bush told a meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Association in Washington. ``For the sake of a continent threatened by famine, I urge the European governments to end their opposition to biotechnology,'' he added.

U.S. farmers estimate that the E.U. biotech restrictions have cost them nearly $300 millions a year in lost corn exports alone. The issue has soured the world's biggest trading relationship and will loom large at an E.U.-U.S. summit on Wednesday in Washington.

The E.U. claimed it spent seven times more on development aid to Africa than the U.S. He said the E.U. focused its spending on longer term improvements to help African farmers improve their yields. U.S. officials have previously blamed the E.U. restrictions for decisions by African nations to reject American food aid because it contains genetically modified grain. The E.U. imposed a moratorium on the import of genetically modified food products in 1998, responding to mounting fears of European consumers about possible health risks from the products.

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