May 13, 2003 (12:10 p.m. EDT) No. 59

GMOs: CANADA INITIATES WTO PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE EUROPEAN UNION

In an effort to press European Union (EU) member states to lift their moratorium on the approval of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the Government of Canada is requesting formal World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations.

"The moratorium on the approval of GMOs is inconsistent with the EU's WTO obligations and is not based on scientific risk assessments and thus creates an unjustified barrier to trade," said International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew. "We are asking the EU to allow its GMO approvals law to function--to approve or reject an application based on scientific evaluation."

Since March 1998, seven EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg) have maintained a de facto moratorium on GMOs, by blocking the approval process.

"Over the past several years, this moratorium has been directly responsible for Canada's loss of market access for canola in the EU," said Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lyle Vanclief. "Our trade in canola has diminished drastically. Since the ban was introduced in 1998, what was once an average $185 million a year in trade has now dwindled to a mere $1.5 million."

For more than five years, Canada has tried to persuade the EU to change its stance on this matter. Prime Minister Chrétien and Ministers Pettigrew and Vanclief, among others, have all raised this matter with their counterparts in the EU to no avail.

Sixty days after the request for consultations is made, Canada will be in a position to ask the WTO to set up a dispute settlement panel on the issue, if no resolution has been found by then.

The United States, Argentina and Egypt have also formally requested consultations regarding the moratorium.

For more information please consult the following Web site:

http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/tna-nac/disp/chrono-en.asp

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A backgrounder is attached.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Sébastien Théberge

Director of Communications

Office of the Minister for International Trade

(613) 992-7332

Media Relations Office

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874

Donald Boulanger

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

(613) 759-1761

Media Relations Office

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

(613) 759-7972

This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Backgrounder

Canada is a world leader in biotechnology with its leading biotech sectors in the health and agriculture fields. Canada is the third largest grower and exporter of GM crops (after the U.S. and Argentina). Canada's commercial production of GM crops is of the following three types:

• canola (64% of all canola acreage);

• corn (32% of all corn acreage); and

• soy (32% of all soy acreage).

The EU moratorium on approving GM products denies Canadian products access to the EU's scientific regulatory system. Canada considers the EU moratorium to be a violation of the WTO agreement, and that our request for consultations sends a strong message to Canadian exporters that we are prepared to exercise our WTO rights.

Industry groups affected by the moratorium are supportive of WTO consultations:

• Canola Council of Canada: "...We are gravely concerned about the role the European Union moratorium continues to play in moving the world away from a science-based regulatory regime..."

• Grain Growers of Canada: "A challenge of the European Union's ban is necessary because this ban is not based on scientific fact."

• Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance: "CAFTA's exporting members are very concerned that if the EU ban goes unchallenged, other countries might follow suit, establishing unjustified access barriers against Canadian products."

In addition to Canada, the United States, Argentina and Egypt will also be filing requests as co-complainants to the WTO. Australia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Uruguay have expressed the intention to participate in the consultations as third parties.

Approved biotech products are as safe as their conventional counterparts

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada and Environment Canada are the primary regulators of agricultural products and foods derived from biotechnology in Canada. Before a new product can be approved for commercialization, it requires a thorough evaluation and a rigorous safety assessment to protect humans, animals and the environment.

In October 2001, a European Commission report concluded that more than 15 years of research, which it has supported on GM plants and derived products, have not shown any new risks to human health or the environment. It further stated that the use of more precise technology and greater regulatory scrutiny probably make them even safer than their conventional counterparts.

In February 2002, a U.K. Royal Society report concluded that there was no reason to doubt the safety of GM foods, nor to believe that genetic modification makes foods inherently less safe than their conventional counterparts.

In December 2002, a study led by the French Academy of Sciences urged the EU to end its moratorium on GM crops stating that there was no current scientific basis for criticism of GMOs: "There has never been a health problem regarding consumers or damage to the environment."

In an interview with the Financial Times in February 2003, David Byrne, EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Safety, urged governments to do more to persuade consumers that GM products were safe, stating that he was not convinced that this work is being done with the kind of force that is needed. He further stated: "We have various prestigious scientific institutions that have said GM foods do not cause any harm to consumers."