Problem for the GM Lobby

Free trade talks should open markets, and the EU has announced its intention to defend the existing regulations on genetically modified organisms. The U.S. government has made clear that the utilization of GM technology has led to significant problems.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a surprising study that one would not have expected from the United States. After all, the Americans have for years promoted the alleged advantages of GM technology. Now the government has conceded that its use has led to significant problems.

The publication comes at a time when the United States and the European Union are negotiating a transatlantic economic zone. Implicit in the negotiations are questions of nutrition and agriculture. Representatives of agribusiness on both sides of the Atlantic are attempting to press home their interests. In a contribution to Euroactiv, Andreas Geiger, Managing Partner at Alber & Geiger, calls the free trade talks “a unique opportunity for agriculture big business to make their voice heard in the EU and implement their interests effectively.”

Defending Interests

European agribusiness can count on support from its American counterpart. The seed companies have decidedly good connections in the U.S. government. Former industry employees occupy numerous positions in government, while former government staffers work for the agricultural industry. As demonstrated in 2012 by research conducted and published by the Frankfurter Rundschau, the U.S. government has worked for many years to promote the global advance of GM technology.

U.S. diplomats have aggressively sought to prepare the political ground for GM technology. For example, in 2007 the U.S. Embassy in Paris proposed a list of retaliatory actions to take against the French government for having spoken out against genetically modified plants.

A State Department strategy paper on the spread of GM technology states that “protecting the interests of American farmers and exporters” is an aim of U.S. diplomacy.* With considerable sums of money, numerous events and targeted political interventions, the U.S. has attempted to prepare the ground abroad for GM technology — with success outside of Europe. The newly published study could complicate these efforts considerably.

The EU has announced that it wants to defend the existing rules on GM technology in the free trade talks with the U.S.

*Editor’s Note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.