American companies have tried to market transgenic seeds in Europe, and some attractive GM crops have also been developed and patented by European-based companies. Yet within the European Union the new technology has not taken hold. As of 1999, only a few farms in Spain, France, and Portugal were planting transgenic crops. That crisis undermined consumer trust in expert opinion after U.K. public health officials gave consumers what proved to be a false assurance that there was no danger in eating beef from diseased animals. U.S. officials have opposed the mandatory labeling of GM products.
Agreement permits nations to restrict imports in the name of health or environmental protection.
But an unresolved question is whether governments can restrict imports under conditions of scientific uncertainty, on a precautionary basis. The EU is trying to weaken this WTO requirement. State Department officials reluctantly accepted the final terms of the protocol, partly with the hope that it might calm consumer and importer fears if the United States and the EU were seen to agree on the issue. Food-production requirements are increasing rapidly in the tropics due to population growth . Similarly, improved wheat varieties spread to more than 90 percent of Asia and Latin America but to only 59 percent of sub-Saharan Africa.