Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The creation of a protected space (a 'niche') for experimentation and
learning about alternatives
“Endogenous response” to globalization by “less favored regions,”
meaning the mobilization of local knowledge and solutions to ensure
sustainable development
In 2003 the EU Commission rejected this request, and the decision is
being contested in the courts. 32
Greenpeace has generally supported the 2003 EU regulations and
voiced opposition to the United States' attempt to challenge the EU reg-
ulations through the World Trade Organization (WTO). 33 The United
States, Canada, and Argentina initiated proceedings against the EU over
its de facto moratorium on GMOs at the WTO. 34 The WTO ruled in 2006
that it is illegal for individual countries to ban specific GMOs, although
strict laws are still possible. 35
One of the key features of the European policy with regard to
GMOs - the labeling and traceability requirements - has proven to be
difficult to implement. For one thing, there is no consensus about the
definition of no-GMO-containing foodstuffs. Greenpeace has been cam-
paigning against companies that lobbied the EU to allow increasing
amounts of “contamination” by GM food. Second, incidents of mixing
during storage, transport, and processing are bound to occur, as exempli-
fied by the widely publicized case of Starlink corn in the United States,
where GMO corn, strictly limited to use for animal feed, found its way
into supermarket cereals and other grain products. In 2005, there was
the highly publicized case of GMO-producing company Syngenta mis-
leading the public and regulators by withholding information about GM
maize contamination. Recently, Greenpeace created a Contamination
32 PlanetArk Factbox, www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34942/story.htm
Feb 8 (last visited June 25, 2008).
33 Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org (last visited June 25, 2008).
34 PlanetArk Factbox, www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34942/story.htm
Feb 8 (last visited June 25, 2008).
35 Bite Back, http://www.bite-back.org (last visited June 25, 2008).
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