Food Fight: The Looming U.S.-EU Conflict over Plant Biotechnology and Trade
POLICY FORUMWednesday, September 25, 2002
12:00 p.m. (Luncheon to follow)
Featuring Alan Larson, U.S. Department of State; Ronald Bailey, Cato Institute; Tony Van der haegen, Delegation of the European Commission to the U.S.; and Sarah Thorn, Grocery Manufacturers of America.
The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
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American farmers are the world’s leading producers of genetically modified crops, but the European Union has barred imports of such products on the basis of the “precautionary principle.” The U.S. government contends there is no scientific evidence of risk to consumers, and may soon challenge the EU ban in the World Trade Organization. In response, the EU is considering a labeling system, or changes in international rules that would allow its ban to continue. Discussing the issue will be the State Department’s under secretary for economic, business, and agricultural affairs; a representative of the European Commission’s delegation in Washington; the author of a new Cato study on the subject; and a representative of U.S. industries impacted by the EU’s ban.