Europeans Reject U.S. Genetic Engineered Plants

Other major European soy buyers have also begun to cancel orders due to consumer backlash against the controversial U.S. government policy of allowing unlabelled soybeans to be mixed in with the ordinary beans. On the eve of the United Nations Food Summit in Rome which opens November 13, it is an issue that will be hotly debated, at least in the corridors.

But the rejection of the mixed shipments of U.S. beans follows close on the heels of similar actions taken by other European soy and soy oil buyers. These include supermarket chains, baby food manufacturers, dietary food producers and the natural foods industry in Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands and other EU nations, according to a joint statement issued by the Pure Food Campaign and the Foundation on Economic Trends (FET), two affiliated Washington-based groups.

Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, says that in the past 30 days over 300 consumer, health, farmer and environmental organizations from 48 nations have pledged to boycott Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" herbicide resistant soybeans, citing potential human health hazards and adverse environmental impacts.

"Despite the Clinon administration's refusal to require special pre-market safety testing or labelling of genetically engineered foods and crops, consumer concern over gene-spliced products, both in Europe and the U.S. is growing," Rifkin stated. "Consumer polls over the past decade indicate that 80-95 percent of the American public wants mandatory labelling."

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Administrator of Foreign Agricultural Service, August Schumacher, Jr., feels confident that the government's policy of not requiring the genetically engineered beans to be labelled is justified. "The United States has approved bio-engineered soybeans. They've been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, approved by the United States Department of Agriculture. There is no reason, given the sound science, sound environment, and sound technology used for anyone to take such actions," he said, before catching a plane for the World Food Summit.

"In addition, these products have considerable environmental benefit, and it is perplexing that groups that purport to be environmentally friendly would not welcome such products that have such extrordinary environmental benefits." The genetically engineered beans will minimize the need for chemicals and improve yields, Schumacher saids, a conclusion that Monsanto's spokesperson, Marshall also adopts.

Marshall says the boycotting groups have got their facts wrong when it comes to citing adverse health and environmental effects of the beans in question. "They may cite them, but they don't have evidence for them," she says. "In Europe they looked at them and said they don't see any problems with them from the environment. They've all looked at the safety issues and come out with the same conclusion -- that they are safe. There are thousands of opposition activist groups around the world. If they want to oppose it, it is certainly their right to do so, but some are talking about 'what ifs,' well, we go by the data."

FET president Rifkin disagrees. "The message from consumers worldwide is clear. Unless genetically engineered foods and crops are properly safety-tested and labelled, consumers and socially responsible businesses are left with no other alternative but to boycott them."