M2 Presswire

U.S. - EU Cooperation On Biotechnology

The U.S. and the EU have agreed to establish a Consultative Forum to review and assess the benefits and risks of biotechnology and prepare a report on these issues for the December 2000 U.S.-EU Summit. The Forum will include individuals from outside government covering a broad range of perspectives, expertise, and interests - people with backgrounds in academia and business, including scientists, ethicists, environmental interests, farmers, and consumers. They will look at factors such as the food security needs of developing countries, food safety, health and the environment. The forum will complement the existing bilateral dialogue, including the U.S.-EU transatlantic "dialogues" between sectors of our civil society (business, labor, consumer, environmental).

Lack of public confidence in the European food safety system has led to paralysis on approval of biotech foods. This is significantly undermining progress on food security in developing nations causing uncertainty in markets around the world and harming U.S. farm exports.

The EU's prevention of U.S. corn exports to Spain and Portugal costs U.S. producers about $200 million per year in lost corn sales (since 1998).

Two new EU labeling regulations came into effect in April, but have not been implemented because of the lack of testing methodologies, certifying labs and inspection procedures.

In October 1999, President Clinton and European Commission President Prodi agreed to take new steps to address differences over biotechnology, both through high-level government to government dialogue and with input from civil society. The leaders agreed to intensify U.S.-EU discussions on biotechnology in order to make progress on regulatory issues and to avoid and resolve trade problems.

In December, the U.S. and the EU adopted a two-track approach. First, they established government-to-government talks through a special session of the U.S.-EU Senior Level Group. While these talks began early in 2000, they have yet to achieve progress on market access issues. With today's announcement, the United States and EU have succeeded in launching the Consultative Forum to advise on these issues and have agreed to address practical steps to facilitate market access.

EU Members of the EU-US Biotechnology Consultative Forum

• Derek Burke, Prof., is former Professor of Microbiology at Warwick University and retired Chair of UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods.
• Susan Davies, is Principal Policy Adviser of the Consumers' Association.
• Noëlle Lenoir, is Chair of the European Group on Ethics in science and new Technology, European Union.
• Dan Leskien, is advisor to Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit on intellectual property rights and plant genetic resources in developing countries and permanent biotechnology advisor to Friends of the Earth.
• Måns Lnnroth, Ph.D., is Managing Director of MISTRA, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research and former State Secretary at the Swedish Ministry of the Environment.
• Ruud Lubbers, Prof., is Professor for Globalisation and Sustainable Development at the Catholic University Brabant (Tilburg University) and former Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
• Pedro Puigdomnech Rosell, Prof., is research Professor at the department of molecular genetics, Instituto de Biologia Molecular de Barcelona.
• Leonardo Santi, Prof., is President of the Advanced Biotechnology Center, Genoa, and Chairman of the National Committee for Biosafety and Biotechnology Presidency of Cabinet of Ministers Rome.
• Luis Vasconcelos e Souza, is President of the Portuguese Associations of Maize Producers and Vice-President of the European Association of Maize Producers.
• Eduard Veltkamp, Prof., is Senior Vice President, Business Research Foods, Unilever Research Laboratory Vlaardingen.

U.S. Members of the US-EU Consultative Forum

• Norman Borlaug, Ph.D., is currently Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at Texas A&M University and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work on the "Green Revolution."
• Gordon Conway, Ph.D., is President of the Rockefeller Foundation and a world-renowned agricultural ecologist.
• Rebecca J. Goldburg, Ph.D., is Senior Scientist at Environmental Defense.
• Cutberto Garza, M.D., Ph.D., is Vice Provost at Cornell University and Chair of the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies Institute of Medicine.
• Jennie Hunter-Cevera, Ph.D., is the President of the University of Marylands Biotechnology Institute.
• Terry Medley, J.D., is the Director of Regulatory and External Affairs for Dupont.
• Christopher Roland Somerville, Ph.D., is the Director of The Carnegie Institutes Department of Plant Biology at Stanford University.
• Carol Tucker Foreman is the Director of the Food Policy Institute of the Consumer Federation of America.
• Ryland Frederick Utlaut farms corn, soybeans and wheat near Grand Pass, Missouri and is the past President of the National Corn Growers Association.
• LeRoy B. Walters, Ph.D., is the Director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.