The United States said Monday it has agreed with the European Union (EU) to temporarily suspend its right to impose sanctions on EU goods in a trade dispute over genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The EU missed a World Trade Organization (WTO) deadline Friday to comply with a decision against EU restrictions on some GMOs. “We have agreed with the EU to suspend for a limited period the proceedings on our WTO request for authority to suspend concessions in order to provide the EU an opportunity to demonstrate meaningful progress on the approval of biotech products,” said U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel. “The United States remains very concerned with EU treatment of agricultural biotech products,” Hamel said. “We are taking steps necessary under WTO rules to preserve our right in the WTO to suspend trade concessions.” On Friday, the European Commission failed to honor the WTO deadline in a case brought over imports of GMOs that Europe lost in 2006. The WTO ruled that an EU moratorium on the authorization of genetically modified products between 1999 and 2004 violated world trade rules. “U.S. seed companies, farmers, and exporters continue to experience significant commercial losses as a result of the EU actions,” Hamel said. “The patience of U.S. stakeholders is close to exhaustion.”
