[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 154 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 154
Expressing the support of the Senate of United States efforts in the
World Trade Organization to end the unwarranted moratorium imposed by
the European Union on the approval of agricultural biotechnology
products.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 23, 2003
Mr. Talent (for himself, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Bond, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Baucus,
Mr. Bunning, and Mr. Roberts) submitted the following resolution; which
was considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the support of the Senate of United States efforts in the
World Trade Organization to end the unwarranted moratorium imposed by
the European Union on the approval of agricultural biotechnology
products.
Whereas agricultural biotechnology is subject to the strictest Federal review in
the United States, based on sound science, by the Department of
Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug
Administration prior to planting and human consumption;
Whereas agricultural biotechnology has made considerable contributions to the
protection of the environment by creating an environment more hospitable
to wildlife and reducing the application of pesticides by 46,000,000
pounds in 2001 alone;
Whereas agricultural biotechnology holds tremendous promise for greatly
increasing the world's supply of nutritious and wholesome foods which
will improve the quality of life and health in the developing world;
Whereas there is objective and experience-based consensus in the international
scientific community, including the National Academy of Sciences, the
American Medical Association, the Royal Society of London, the French
Academy of Medicine, the French Academy of Sciences, the Brazilian
Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Indian
National Science Academy, and the Mexican Academy of Sciences, that
agricultural biotechnology is safe;
Whereas policy decisions regarding agricultural biotechnology in the European
Union are being driven by politics and not by sound science;
Whereas since the late 1990s, the European Union has pursued policies that
shelter its markets from competition by opposing the use of agricultural
biotechnology;
Whereas agricultural biotechnology policies of the European Union have
frustrated the development of modern scientific tools and plant
technology that could expand the production of indigenous food products
by addressing problems related to local pests, weather conditions, and
vitamin deficiencies;
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 agricultural
biotechnology 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 farmers and consumers
around the world, and especially to starving people in the developing
world;
Whereas in the fall of 2002, famine-stricken African countries rejected healthy,
wholesome, United States humanitarian offers of food aid because of ill-
informed health and environmental concerns and fears that future exports
to Europe would be jeopardized; and
Whereas the 5-year moratorium on the approval of new agricultural biotechnology
products entering the European market is not science based, effectively
prohibits most United States corn exports to Europe, violates European
Union law, and clearly breaches the rules of the World Trade
Organization: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate supports and applauds the efforts of the
Administration on behalf of the Nation's farmers, challenging the long-
standing, unwarranted moratorium imposed by the European Union on the
approval of agricultural biotechnology products and encourages the
President to continue to press this issue at the G-8 Summit in Evian,
France, on June 1 through 3, 2003.
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