[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 252 Engrossed in House (EH)]
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
June 10, 2003.
Whereas agriculture biotechnology has been subject to the strictest testing,
based on sound science, by the United States Department of Agriculture,
the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency
prior to commercialization or human consumption;
Whereas Americans have been consuming genetically-modified corn and soybean
products, which are subject to a rigorous Federal review process, for
years with no documentation of any adverse health consequences;
Whereas, according to recent studies, biotechnology has made substantial
contributions to the protection of the environment by reducing the
application of pesticides, reducing soil erosion and creating an
environment more hospitable to wildlife;
Whereas agriculture biotechnology holds tremendous promise for helping solve
food security and human health crises in the developing world;
Whereas there is objective and experience-based agreement in the scientific
community, including the National Academies of Science, the American
Medical Association, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, the French
Academy of Medicine, the French Academy of Sciences, the joint report of
the national science academies of the United Kingdom, the United States,
Brazil, China, India and Mexico, twenty Nobel Prize winners, leading
plant science and biology organizations in the United States and
thousands of individual scientists, that biotech foods are safe and
valuable;
Whereas European Union decisions on agriculture and food biotechnology are being
driven by policies that have no scientific justification, do not take
into account its capacity for solving problems facing mankind, and are
critical of the leading role of the United States in scientific
advancement;
Whereas since the late 1990s, the European Union has opposed the use of
agriculture biotechnology and pursued policies which result in slowing
the development and support of genetically-engineered products around
the world;
Whereas the five-year moratorium on the approval of new agriculture
biotechnology products entering the European market has no scientific
basis, effectively prohibits most United States corn exports to Europe,
violates European Union law, and clearly breaches World Trade
Organization (WTO) rules;
Whereas since its implementation in October 1998, the moratorium has blocked
more than $300,000,000 annually in United States corn exports to
countries in the European Union;
Whereas the European Union's unjustified moratorium on agriculture biotech
approvals has ramifications far beyond the United States and Europe,
forcing a slowdown in the adoption and acceptance of beneficial
biotechnology to the detriment of starving people around the world; and
Whereas in the fall of 2002 it was reported that famine-stricken African
countries rejected humanitarian food aid from the United States because
of ill-informed health and environmental concerns and fear that future
exports to the European Union would be jeopardized: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports and applauds the
efforts of the Administration on behalf of the Nation's farmers and sound
science by challenging the long-standing, unwarranted moratorium imposed in the
European Union on agriculture and food biotech products and encourages the
President to continue to press this issue.
Attest:
Clerk.