US firms 'tried to lie' over GM crops, says EU

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News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods----Dear News Update Subscribers,There is a very interesting article posted below from the October 14edition of the United Kingdom newspaper, The Independent.The headline "US firms 'tried to lie' over GM crops, says EU" prettymuch says it all.Craig WintersExecutive DirectorThe Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered FoodsThe CampaignPO Box 55699Seattle, WA 98155Tel: 425-771-4049Fax: 603-825-5841E-mail: labelWeb Site: http://www.thecampaign.org Mission Statement: "To create a national grassroots consumer campaignfor the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to passlegislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineeredfoods in the United States."*************************************************************** US firms 'tried to lie' over GM crops, says EUBy Michael McCarthy, Environment EditorThe Independent14 October 2003American biotech companies tried to lie to Europe in an attempt to forcegenetically modified crops upon them, Margot Wallström, the Europeanenvironment commissioner, said yesterday.Far from developing GM crops to solve the problem of starvation in theworld, as they claimed, the biotech companies did so to "solvestarvation amongst their shareholders", said the European Union'sleading green politician.Speaking to journalists in London, the 49-year-old Swede followed herbroadside over GM with an attack on the US over the so-called ghostfleet of rusting and polluted American ships being sent to Britain fordismantling, saying they should be kept in America.She further suggested that the US government had been putting pressureon Russia not to ratify the Kyoto protocol.Mrs Wallström's unusually outspoken remarks will add to the ill-feelingbetween Europe and the US over genetic modification, which has led tothe American government launching a legal action through the World TradeOrganisation on the basis that European nations are dragging their feetover GM crop authorisation.Her comments raise the political stakes before the publication onThursday of Britain's farm-scale trials of GM crops, which may provideevidence of environmental damage that could lead to the crops beingbanned.At a lunch with journalists, the commissioner spoke of the "legitimateconcerns of European citizens and farmers and other groups about theeffects of GM crops on human health and the environment".Asked if US biotech companies had chosen the wrong products to introduceinto Europe - meaning crops that were modified to take more powerfulweedkillers, rather than give any other benefit - she replied: "Ofcourse they have. Absolutely. They have to face that. They have torealise that they have chosen the completely wrong approach from thebeginning."They tried to lie to people, and they tried to force it upon people.It's the wrong approach. You cannot force it upon Europe. So I hope theyhave learnt a lesson from this, especially when they now try to arguethat this will solve the problems of starvation in the world and so on.But come on ... it was to solve starvation amongst shareholders, not thedeveloping world."