This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
On July second, the European Parliament agreed to let newgenetically changed products enter the European Union. Several E-Unations temporarily halted the import of new genetically changedfoods five years ago. The law approved this month makes an end tothis action possible. However, it creates new requirements.
Parliament voted in Brussels to expand the requirements toidentify genetically changed products. Under the new rules, allfoods that contain point-nine percent or more of geneticallymodified organisms must be labeled. Even foods produced with suchmaterial but without any in the final product must be labeled. Somust all genetically changed animal feed.
The European Union approved a number of genetically changedproducts in the nineteen-nineties. But some countries put in placean unofficial ban in nineteen-ninety-eight.
The United States has repeatedly criticized the ban. On Junetwenty-sixth, Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and AgricultureSecretary Ann Veneman spoke to reporters. They said the UnitedStates would push forward with a case against the E-U in the WorldTrade Organization.
Mister Zoellick said the E-U ban has hurt not only Americanfarmers but also hungry people in Africa. He said “irresponsible”statements about food safety have caused some African countries torefuse American food aid. Mister Zoellick said a number of countriesare joining the effort to end the E-U policy. He also pointed tostudies that show genetically changed foods to be safe.
The vote by the European Parliament has cleared the way to removethe ban. But this is not the end of the issue. The E-U is alsorequiring that full and complete records be kept on geneticallychanged products. The E-U calls this “traceablility.” It means thatdocuments must show how genetically changed products moved throughthe food supply.
American suppliers say the new E-U requirements are too costly.They say they are also concerned that Europeans will not want to buyfoods labeled as genetically changed. There are no such requirementsin the United States.
European Union officials say the issue is not about safety. Theysay Europeans want to be able to choose what they eat.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter.