Blue Skies for Biotech?

After years of trans-Atlantic haggling, is Europe finally willing to open its markets to U.S. biotech products? Maybe. The European Union is considering the import of genetically modified sweet corn --- a change that could lead to openings for similar U.S. biotech products in the future.

"This is a significant step, and we believe this will lead Europe to finally start approving products that the scientific community has long said were safe," said Simon Barber, director of the plant biotechnology unit at EuropaBio which represents Europe's biotechnology industry.

Roughly 34 gene-modified products are waiting for EU approval.

Nevertheless, a number of sticking points remain -- most notably the European mindset. Europeans are far more conservative about their food --- a view that has hardened even more following the first U.S. detection of BSE last year. They also don’t like Americans telling them what to eat.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at April 27, 2004 09:42 AM | TrackBack