GM food issue ‘could spark EU-US trade war’

A FOOD lawyer warned yesterday that the issue of genetically modified foods has the potential to cause a major EU-US trade war if it is not dealt with quickly.

Food lawyer Raymond O’Rourke said the issue, a major cause of division between the EU and the US, will not be discussed at today’s Dromoland Castle summit.

He accused the Irish government of a major oversight by failing to tackle the issue of GM foods head-on at the meeting.

“This is not an issue that should be dealt with as an aside at the summit as it affects over 450 million consumers,” said Mr O’Rourke, who practices with Mason Hayes and Curran, Solicitors, Dublin.

Last month, the EU authorised a GM sweetcorn for human consumption, lifting a de facto moratorium on the authorisation on such new products in place since 1999.

The moratorium had been vehemently criticised by the US, which took a WTO case against the EU on the issue and on EU labelling-traceability rules for GM products. Mr O’Rourke said that since the EU has lifted the moratorium, he believed it should be persuading the US at the summit to suspend its WTO case.

The other issue of contention is labelling of GM products. The US regard labelling of GM foods as unnecessary, but the EU disagrees.

“I believe that if the EU does not take a stand on the issue of the labelling of GM foods they risk losing a WTO case and precipitating a major transatlantic trade war,” he said.