The United States has agreed to give Europe more time to show progress in approving new biotechnology products, U.S. trade officials said Monday.
The agreement staves off intensification of a long-running trade dispute.
Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. trade representative, Susan Schwab, said the agreement would give the 27-member European Union a ''limited period'' to show it was approving genetically modified crops more quickly.
But she added that Washington was still ''very concerned'' about EU policy on genetically engineered crops, which now account for a huge share of U.S. farm production and exports.
Hamel said the Bush administration would assess EU policy periodically and, years into a contentious trans-Atlantic case before the World Trade Organization, would reserve the right to press its case further at the WTO.
The news comes days after Europe's deadline for complying with the latest WTO decision in the case, which ruled that the EU had been dragging its feet on genetically modified products.International Herald Tribune
