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 rig-
orous Federal review process, for years with no docu-
mentation of any adverse health consequences;
Whereas, according to recent studies, biotechnology has made
substantial contributions to the protection of the environ-
ment 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 Acad-
emies of Science, the American Medical Association, the
Royal Society of the United Kingdom, the French Acad-
emy of Medicine, the French Academy of Sciences, the
•HRES 252 EH
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 capac-
ity for solving problems facing mankind, and are critical
of the leading role of the United States in scientific ad-
vancement;
Whereas since the late 1990s, the European Union has op-
posed the use of agriculture biotechnology and pursued
policies which result in slowing the development and sup-
port of genetically-engineered products around the world;
Whereas the five-year moratorium on the approval of new ag-
riculture 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 Organiza-
tion (WTO) rules;
Whereas since its implementation in October 1998, the mora-
torium 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 be-
yond 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
•HRES 252 EH
Whereas in the fall of 2002 it was reported that famine-
stricken 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, there-
fore, 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 Euro-
pean Union on agriculture and food biotech products and en-
courages the President to continue to press this issue.
Attest:
Clerk.