news su OGM

["AlessandroGimona" <agimona at libero.it>]

U.S. WEIGHS WTO CASE AGAINST EU'S GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD
         BAN
         November 19, 2001
         Bloomberg.com
         Adrian Cox, and James G. Neuger,
         Brussels -- The U.S. may file a World Trade Organization 
complaint to force
         the European Union to end a three-year ban on genetically 
modified foods, a
         U.S. trade official said.
         France last month led a five-country coalition that blocked 
efforts to
         overturn the EU ban, which curbs European sales of companies 
such as Aventis
         CropScience, Syngenta AG and Monsanto Co.
         ``There's a recognition that you've got a problem if your 
products aren't
         getting onto the market,'' said
         Grant Aldonas, the U.S. Commerce Department's undersecretary 
for
         international trade. ``At some point'' the U.S. will say 
``that's a WTO
         trading violation.''
         The European Commission, the EU's regulatory arm, is trying to 
jump-start EU
         approval of GM products by passing tighter regulations to label 
and trace
         them through the food chain. A commission study rebutted claims 
by some
         environmental groups that the products are a health hazard.
         EU scientists have already approved 12 GM products for use in 
the bloc,
         though opposition from member states means they've yet to be 
marketed. The
         U.S. and Canada have approved about 50 gene- modified crop 
varieties,
         compared with 13 in the EU. GM products tested by the EU 
declined from 256
         in 1997 to 44 this year.
         The U.S. produces 70 percent of the world's 40 million hectares 
(99 million
         acres) of GM crops, while
         Argentina produces 14 percent, Canada 9 percent and the EU just 
0.03
         percent, according to the commission.



         AUSTRALIAN INSURERS WARY OF GM CROPS
         November 18, 2001
         Farmers Weekly Interactive
         Boyd Champness
         http://www.fwi.co.uk/live/ozworld.html
         AUSTRALIA'S green movement received an unlikely boost in its 
fight against
         genetically modified crops last week when the insurance 
industry admitted it
         was reluctant to cover the biotechnology industry against 
litigation.
         The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has said that it is 
loath to insure
         farmers, biotechnology and food companies for claims involving 
GM foods.
         It would mean farmers growing GM crops at their own risk, 
leaving them
         personally liable   for any future damages claims.
         The Weekly Times newspaper reported that the insurance industry 
feared a
         repeat of the situation similar to the Wittenoom asbestos 
disaster, in which
         mining companies were sued for millions of dollars in damages 
by workers who
         contracted cancer years after being exposed to the deadly 
mineral.
         The insurance council believes "the unforeseen risks of 
genetically modified
         foods may be too high for insurers".
         The newspaper said insurers were wary of lawsuits involving 
consumers
         claiming allergic reactions to GM foods, contamination of 
non-GM crops and
         the development of mutant  herbicide-resistant weeds.
         The insurance council said, because the technology is new and 
complex, there
         is no way of  assessing the risk of damages claims arising in 
the future and
         therefore no way of setting insurance premiums.
         "It is such a new technology, it is virtually impossible to 
assess the risks
         down the track,"
         ICA spokesman Rod Frail said.
         And defending GM claims in court could prove difficult because 
of the
         complexity of the technology, the ICA said.
         Two of Australia's biggest farm insurers, CGU and Elders, 
confirmed their
         uneasiness with GM crops to the Weekly Times.
         "GM technology is still in its infancy and research on any 
direct or
         indirect impacts is far
         from conclusive," CGU spokesman Chris Jackson told the paper.
         Mr Jackson said farmers who intend to grow a GM crop should 
declare it and
         cover would be "assessed on its merits".
         Elders national insurance manager Kim Perrin said farmers 
should not assume
         they were
         automatically covered under their normal public liability 
policies, and
         should check with
         insurers before proceeding with GM crops.
         Product liability lawyer David Poulton, from Minter Ellison, 
told the Weekly
         Times that
         insurance companies were likely to insert exclusion clauses in 
policies or
         decline to cover the  risks associated with biotechnology 
altogether.

Alessandro Gimona
agimona at libero.it