EU Declines US Call to Reassure Africa on GMO Food

- Reuters, August 22, 2002 (Via Katie Thrasher)

BRUSSELS, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The European Union on Thursday rejected
calls from Washington for it to reassure African countries that
genetically modified (GM) food aid from the United States is safe.

The U.S. government has called on the EU to urge southern African states
like Zimbabwe, which are facing acute food shortages, not to reject GM
grains which are commonly consumed by millions of Americans, but are
banned in some countries. But the EU, which lets only a handful of GM
crops to be imported or grown on its territory, declined to intervene.

"We do not intend to get involved in what is a discussion between some of
the countries of southern Africa and the U.S.," said European Commission
spokesman Michael Curtis. "It is our position that they have to sort this
out for themselves," he told a news conference.

In June, the government of Zimbabwe rejected a U.S. maize consignment of
17,500 tonnes because it was not certified free of genetically modified
material. The government was concerned some of the grains would be
planted rather than eaten, thus releasing GM plants into the environment
and potentially jeopardising Zimbabwe's exports to countries which choose
GM-free foods.

Neighbouring Zambia, which also has a food shortage, has rejected GM
maize offered by the U.S. and the U.N. World Food Programme, citing
health concerns, and has turned to nearby countries to buy GM-free
maize. The row comes as the EU is finalising rules which would require
U.S. farmers to segregate GM crops from non-GM before exporting them to
the 15-country European bloc.

The United States is lobbying against the move, which would prove costly
for a farm sector where GM and non-GM are routinely mixed and treated no
differently from each other. Although there is no evidence to show GM
foods are unsafe, European consumers, shaken by a mad cow disease scare,
are concerned about possible as-yet unknown health and environmental
risks from GM plants which could occur in the future.

Washington argues its safety tests prove the crops are safe and that
populations on the verge of starvation should not be denied food deemed
acceptable for U.S. consumers. The United Nations estimates 12.8 million
people, mainly in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland and
Lesotho, will need 1.2 million tonnes of food aid between June 2002 and
March 2003.