Question

Many proponents of environmental safety and public health are concerned about the creation, spread, and potential impact of genetically modified foods. The United States, Canada, and Argentina are some of the leading producers of genetically modified foods made from bioengineered organisms (GMOs). The U.S. government believes that GMOs are important for the world’s food supply because they can boost food production and nutrition and lead to both disease-resistant crops and better-tasting foods. Many respected scientific studies vouch for the safety of GMOs for human and animal consumption and on the Earth’s environment. GMOs are important to U.S. agriculture economically. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately three-quarters of U.S. soybean and cotton production and over one-third of corn production are genetically modified. However, many consumer groups and countries argue that the dangers to humans, wildlife, and the environment are unknown. Genetically modified corn and soy were approved for sale in the EU prior to 1998, but the European countries ceased new approvals after that time. In addition, the EU and several other countries have adopted regulations requiring the tracing of biotech crops through the chain of distribution, and they imposed strict labeling requirements on all foods and animal feed containing more than 1 percent GMO. European consumers who fear GMO foods will not purchase products with these labels. The United States claims that the requirements are expensive and unnecessary and have cost U.S. farm exporters hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues. In 2003, the United States requested a WTO panel to decide whether the moratorium and labeling requirements violate the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. Research the history of the WTO’s deliberations. What was the outcome? Can you find any decisions of the European Court of Justice on GMOs? What is the current state of EU legislation on GMOs? What is your opinion? Do you think that GMOs should be permitted, or do you think they present some possible harm to the environment or to public health?

Answer 1

What was the outcome?

-As per the report of the Panel in which the measures of European Communities (EC) and EC Member State were challenged by the United States, Canada, and Argentina, the measures were not according to the WTO rules - particularly in respect to the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). However, the Panel underlined that the report did not examine whether the biotech products were safe or not. Nor did it examine the legitimacy of current EC legislation.

Can you find any decisions of the European Court of Justice on GMOs?

- According to the European Court of Justice, Press Release No 111/18, Luxembourg, 25 July 2018, “Organisms obtained by mutagenesis are GMOs and are, in principle, subject to the obligations laid down by the GMO Directive”. It mentioned that new breeding methods like CRISPR and other gene editing techniques fall under genetic engineering and are indeed GMOs, therefore, should be regulated according to the existing EU legislation.

What is the current state of EU legislation on GMOs?

EU has stringent rules and regulations with respect to marketing or importing of GOMs food and products to the EU. They have to pass strict evaluation and safety assessment requirements on a case-by-case basis. Then authorization is granted for a period of ten years under Regulation No. 1829/2003, or by national competent authorities under Directive 2001/18/EC, which controls the intentional release of GMOs into the environment. Within the EU, the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) is required to conduct risk assessments. GMO food or feeds are assigned a unique identifier and labelled for the consumers to make informed choices.

What is your opinion? Do you think that GMOs should be permitted, or do you think they present some possible harm to the environment or to public health?

GMOs should be permitted if they do not cause possible harm to the environment or to public health. GMOs are obtained after careful study, for example, GMO crops are pest resistant and able to grow under challenging environmental conditions such as drought. It can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and also reduce human labour but yield more. So, I feel that research should be conducted on the harmful impact of GMOs and then they should be permitted if found viable.