THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of
the Press Secretary
(Lisbon, Portugal)
| For
Immediate Release |
May 31,
2000 |
Fact Sheet
U.S.-EU Cooperation on
Biotechnology
The U.S. and the EU today 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 labor,
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.
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