March 22/00 / Reuters / By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON - A recent European Commission paper outlining how the
"precautionary principle", applied in matters of international agriculture
trade, could, acoreding to Catherine Wotecki, undersecretary for food
safety, be used to protect public health is strikingly vague in some areas
and raises questions in others.
Wotecki added that a "striking" omission from the paper is any definition
of the precautionary principle, which the European Union
proposes to apply across a wide range of food safety, health
and environmental issues, said.
The EU has said that the paper provides guidelines for how the principle
could be used to make health and safety decisions "when science is
unable to assess completely the risk."
However, it is questionable whether the document even
provides an adequate basis for that, Wotecki said.
The United States looks forward to discussing the issue
with the EU in two upcoming meetings, she said.
Next week, the story adds, food safety officials from the 29 member
countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development will meet in Paris to continue work on a study
requested last summer by the Group of Seven industrial powers.
The G7 plus Russia asked the OECD to study issues
surrounding genetically modified crops, which have raised
consumer concerns in Europe even though U.S. regulatory
agencies say they are safe.
(posted without permission)
