H. Res. 252

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

June 10, 2003.

Whereas agriculture biotechnology has been subject to the

strictest testing, based on sound science, by the United

States Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug

Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency

prior to commercialization or human consumption;

Whereas Americans have been consuming genetically-modified

corn and soybean products, which are subject to a rigorous Federal review process, for years with no documentation of any adverse health consequences;

Whereas, according to recent studies, biotechnology has made

substantial contributions to the protection of the environment by reducing the application of pesticides, reducing

soil erosion and creating an environment more hospitable

to wildlife;

Whereas agriculture biotechnology holds tremendous promise

for helping solve food security and human health crises

in the developing world;

Whereas there is objective and experience-based agreement in

the scientific community, including the National Academies of Science, the American Medical Association, the

Royal Society of the United Kingdom, the French Academy of Medicine, the French Academy of Sciences, the
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joint report of the national science academies of the

United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, China, India

and Mexico, twenty Nobel Prize winners, leading plant

science and biology organizations in the United States

and thousands of individual scientists, that biotech foods

are safe and valuable;

Whereas European Union decisions on agriculture and food

biotechnology are being driven by policies that have no

scientific justification, do not take into account its capacity for solving problems facing mankind, and are critical

of the leading role of the United States in scientific advancement;

Whereas since the late 1990s, the European Union has opposed the use of agriculture biotechnology and pursued

policies which result in slowing the development and support of genetically-engineered products around the world;

Whereas the five-year moratorium on the approval of new agriculture biotechnology products entering the European

market has no scientific basis, effectively prohibits most

United States corn exports to Europe, violates European

Union law, and clearly breaches World Trade Organization (WTO) rules;

Whereas since its implementation in October 1998, the moratorium has blocked more than $300,000,000 annually in

United States corn exports to countries in the European

Union;

Whereas the European Union’s unjustified moratorium on

agriculture biotech approvals has ramifications far beyond the United States and Europe, forcing a slowdown

in the adoption and acceptance of beneficial biotechnology

to the detriment of starving people around the world; and
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Whereas in the fall of 2002 it was reported that faminestricken African countries rejected humanitarian food aid

from the United States because of ill-informed health and

environmental concerns and fear that future exports to

the European Union would be jeopardized: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports

and applauds the efforts of the Administration on behalf of

the Nation’s farmers and sound science by challenging the

long-standing, unwarranted moratorium imposed in the European Union on agriculture and food biotech products and encourages the President to continue to press this issue.

Attest:

Clerk.