WTO Biotech Ruling May be Imminent
Often delayed, the new report may be the longest ever produced by the organization's dispute body.
Willie Vogt 
Published: Jan 26, 2006
The World Trade Organization could be ready to issue a preliminary ruling in a biotech dispute case that's been going through the process since August 2003. According to a U.S. trade official, the WTO could release its preliminary findings by February 1.
The dispute, brought by the United States, Canada and Argentina, is a complaint about the European Union's moratorium on the approval of biotech crops for food or feed use in the region. The moratorium, which some say is lifted, went into effect in October 1998 and has delayed the approval of more than 30 biotech products, according to a U.S. trade official.
The decision by the WTO dispute body has been delayed several times and according to the official, that's due to the nature of the ruling. "They report this ruling will be the longest in the organization's history," the official says. "It will be hundreds of pages long."
When the moratorium was initiated, more than 30 products had already been given a clean bill of health by the European Union's food safety authority. In the past year, the EU has started moving products through the process, but the official says the United States doesn't consider the latest approvals as a sign that the moratorium has been lifted. "Only a handful of products have been approved and each under special circumstances. None have been approved in their regulatory process," he contends.
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