U.S., EU aides clash over 'precautionary' food rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. and European food safety regulators found common ground in fresh croissants and French-roasted coffee at a meeting on Thursday, but agreed on little else -- including how much caution governments should use with gene-altered crops and other new foods.

The French Embassy hosted a half-day seminar to offer a better understanding of European views on a contentious trade issue known as the "precautionary principle."

The principle, adopted in a unanimous vote by the European Union, allows member nations to impose trade bans to protect the public health when there is sketchy or conflicting scientific evidence about safety.

It has been invoked to ban such things as U.S. hormone-treated beef, and is expected to figure into the international debate over bioengineered foods.

The precautionary principle has incensed Washington, which contends that trade bans linked to it are simply protectionism under a new name.

"We, like you, are worried about the abuse of the precautionary principle," said Christine Majewski, a European Commission food safety official who participated in the dialogue before some 100 listeners from the food industry, consumer groups, government agencies and foreign embassies.

But, she added, "we also believe the precautionary principle should be applied internationally, when international trade is involved."

Europe released guidelines earlier this year on how the public can be protected with the principle across a wide range of food safety, health and environmental issues.

Catherine Woteki, U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) undersecretary for food safety, said the EU has yet to clearly define what the precautionary principle is. It is premature for Europe to try and push the principle onto the United States when the EU has not worked out how it will use the approach, she added.

More importantly, though, plenty of precautions have long been built into U.S. food regulations and laws, Woteki said.

The USDA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency all maintain rigorous scientific standards for testing and safety, she said.

"We're after the same goal -- public health protection and fair trade," said Woteki.

Linda Horton, an international trade expert for the FDA, said science and consumer safety underpinned all U.S. food regulations. "The idea that politicians could override the findings of science is something we find quite frightening," Horton said.

Kieran Bradley, assistant to the advocate general in the European Commission Court of Justice, acknowledged food safety was a difficult trade issue for Washington and Brussels.

"Food safety is both a health issue and a trade issue -- and those interests clash at times," Bradley said. "The EC is very concerned about consumer confidence in a safe food supply. The lack of that confidence could be an even bigger trade barrier."

The precautionary principle, he added, allows nations to restrict trade but it also limits how far they can go.

Related discussions are expected at the Group of Eight meeting in Japan this week. The world's richest nations are expected to agree on a framework to coordinate research and studies on the safety of genetically modified products.

A form of the precautionary principle was adopted earlier this year in a landmark international trade pact regulating trade in genetically modified food. The accord, known as the U.N. Biosafety Protocol, would require shipments of bioengineered corn, soybeans and other commodities to bear labels or documentation that they "may contain" genetically modified organisms.

Countries have until June 2001 to sign the Biosafety Protocol before it takes effect.

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