After considerable political pressure, it was decided to suspend their use within the European Union, and to ban imports, which gave rise to difficult negotiations with the US, for hormone use is widespread there. You have probably followed the debate on genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs. The debate in Europe centres on the potential effects of their release into the general environment, on their potential to reduce biodiversity, and on the greater use of powerful chemicals some of them will prompt. Again, consumer sentiment has been strong, and has held up the licensing of any GMO crop in Europe, and required the labelling of any imports containing GMOs. I have tried, in my remarks, not to take a position on these controversies, for the simple reason that there is no clear and categoric scientific answer to them.
Scientific advice is indispensable, but it is no panacea.
In new areas, it may provide little guidance. It anyway has to be independent. And it can never absolve politicians of their responsibilities. To complete the picture, I should add that there are new rules encouraging production to shift to even-higher quality food, through the recognition of regional specialities, and through the setting of standards for organic food. Both of thesse sectors are taking increasing shares of the overall food market.