EU regrets US action at WTO over GM (genetically modified) foods

[Pale Blue Dot]

BRUSSELS, Aug 8 (AFP) - The European Union said Friday it regretted a US-led challenge at the WTO over an EU ban on bio-engineered foods, insisting its rules were "clear and non-discriminatory".

<snip>

The EU last month agreed to two new GMO directives, which it said would open the way to lifting the five-year-old moratorium on the import and cultivation of bio-engineered food by member states.

One directive required that foods and animal feed be labelled if they contain at least 0.9 percent of GM ingredients; the other required that GM foods' origin can be traced.

But the United States said the new labelling and tracking rules made no difference to its case, as the EU moratorium was still in place.

EU regrets US action at WTO over GM foods

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Shut up, sit down, and eat your mutant food."

What's good for BushCo. is good for the planet.

[Code_Name_D]

2. The new world order is here.

And the neo-con's like it. They can't get enugh of this. Just so long as their boys are running the show.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. Why does the EU regret this???

Stand up to the Bush Military Junta DAMN IT!!!!!!

[shirlden]

4. C,mon Europe....help us here

Please keep the pressure on over GM foods. Honestly, wouldn't the entire world be far better off if Monsanto went belly up ??

:argh:

[DemBones DemBones]

5. Dear EU, Politeness does NOT work when dealing with THUGS!!!

Stand up to these bullying bastards! GM foods SHOULD be labelled. If that cuts into Monsanto's profits a bit, perhaps they'll reconsider the insanity of charging on ahead with technology whose safety is unproven.

It is NOT true that GM foods will save the starving in Africa. What would save the starving in Africa is a commitment of wealthy nations to transport and distribute already available food to the starving in Africa (and anywhere else there is need.) The US simply wants to introduce GM foods to Africa as the camel's nose in the tent.

Even if GM foods turn out to be safe, Monsanto and other biotech companies will continue to file lawsuits against farmers whose fields are contaminated by Monsanto GM plants, accusing them of "stealing" patented plants. GM is all about MEGABUCKS FOR MONSANTO and its ilk, not about helping the poor. Monsanto wants farmers everywhere to have to pay big bucks for GM seed instead of growing natural strains of crop plants and saving seed from one year's crop to plant the next year's crop.

Don't believe the lies about GM plants and animals. Genetic modification or engineering is NOT like creating hybrids by taking advantage of natural selection to improve a strain of wheat or breed of cattle. GM organisms have genes from different organisms spliced into them. Animal genes may be spliced into plants. This is profoundly UNnatural.

Is there anything GOOD about genetic engineering/ biotech? Sure -- using bacteria to produce insulin for diabetics is a good example. At least it's good so long as the bacteria don't escape the lab and get into people who don't need extra insulin. It's easier to confine GM bacteria to a lab than to ensure that GM plants don't escape the fields where they're supposed to be growing (pollen and seeds can be accidentally transported out of the field into other fields nearby) or to keep GM animals from escaping into the wild (and using their GM advantages to out-compete with natural animals of their species, causing a reduction in the natural population and, eventually, leading to extinction of the natural salmon or other animal.