990841 New EU Trade Chief Backs Hormone Beef BanAugust 17, 1999Brussels - Incoming European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy endorsed the European Union's decision to keep its ban on imports of hormone-treated beef, saying it was completely justified. Lamy's strong vote of support for the EU's handling of the hormone-treated beef row with the United States and Canada will quash any hopes on the other side of the Atlantic that the new EU executive will break with previous policies. The United States and Canada have imposed punitive duties on some $124 million of EU exports in protest at the EU's refusal to lift its ban on hormone- treated beef imports as they say it was required to do by a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling. The EU ruled out removing the decade-old ban in May after an EU scientific report said there was evidence that one of six hormones commonly used in the North American cattle industry could cause cancer. "I believe this decision was completely justified," Lamy said in written replies to questions put by members of the European Parliament. The French commissioner-designate said the EU should study its position and think carefully what steps, if any, to take. "Nothing, in WTO legislation, forces us to lift our embargo if that represents a risk for consumer health," he added. Lamy and the other incoming commissioners outlined their views in the replies, published before the Parliament holds formal hearings with each new Commissioner starting on August 30. The new Commission is expected to take office in mid-September. Lamy said more scientific studies on hormone-treated beef were being carried out and in the meantime the ban should be maintained. He said compensation, in the form of EU trade concessions to the United States and Canada, was preferable to sanctions and the EU continued to explore this possibility. Lamy said labelling of the contents of food products could play an important role in meeting consumers' concerns and he suggested that proposed new WTO trade talks could try to set multilateral guidelines for this. Lamy deplored the fact that EU exporters had been punished by U.S. sanctions in disputes over beef and the EU's banana import policies. But he did not think it would be wise for the EU itself to compensate European businesses for the sanctions as that would risk leading to a dangerous escalation by both sides. He gave a firm commitment to trade liberalisation, saying the progressive opening of markets for goods and services was in the interest of the EU and its partners. Lamy's nomination had raised eyebrows in Brussels because of the perception that France is among the more protectionist of EU nations. Lamy said a new global round of trade talks, expected to be launched at a WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle in November, was one of his main priorities. In his replies, EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said reforms to the EU's agricultural policies agreed to by EU leaders in Berlin in March formed the "essential elements" in the Commission's negotiating mandate for the WTO talks. The EU's agricultural policies are expected to come under fire in the new trade round from major agricultural exporting nations such as Australia, Canada and the United States. Fischler called for equality in concessions made. "At a time that the European Union commits itself to a courageous reform, the United States goes in the opposite direction and increases considerably its support and agricultural expenditure. This situation of imbalance will have to be corrected," he said.
|
