Reuters | August 12, 1999
LONDON - The top U.S. representative in Brussels has warned that Europe and the United States are heading for a trade war over an EU decision to suspend licences for genetically modified foods, the Times reported on Thursday.
Richard Morningstar, writing in his biannual Letter from Brussels, said "politics and demagoguery have completely taken over the regulatory process," the newspaper said.
In his first policy statement since becoming U.S. ambassador to the EU in July, Morningstar blamed Britain in particular for creating a climate in which the European Union was on the verge of breaching World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules over export restrictions, the newspaper said.
"Until the EU can credibly separate science-based risk assessment and regulations from the political process, the outlook for the resolution of this issue is bleak," he wrote.
EU environment ministers have backed a temporary halt to GMO approvals due to growing public concern about the safety of foods derived from GM crops.
The WTO meets later this year amid a series of trade disputes between the EU and the United States over issues such as bananas and hormone-treated beef.
Morningstar also warned there was also a danger that the EU was over-reacting to Belgium's dioxin food scare, and was moving towards imposing a ban on animal food substances which were permitted in the United States.
"Hasty EU actions in the area risk becoming another trade flashpoint," he warned.Reuters:
