WTO rules against EU on GMOs: towards genetically modified energy crops?

Under public pressure, from 1994 to 1999, the EU imposed a ban on imports of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Soon after, from June 1999 to August 2003, it transformed the ban into a moratorium on GMOs it deemed to be 'unsafe' (see: Europe’s rules on GMOs and the WTO). In a third phase, from 2004 onwards it allowed some selected products in (such as canned GM corn and 'Round-up-Ready' soy), after they had been carefully screened. Highly critical consumers in the EU have always rejected GMOs in food products and continue to do so.

But a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel, building on an earlier ruling by the international trade body, decided last week that the moratorium was illegal. The European market will have to be opened, to the benefit of exporters from North and South America (90% of GMOs remain cultivated in 4 countries : USA (55%), Argentina (19%), Brazil (10%), Canada (6%)).

Canola and GM energy crops
The ruling not only applies to food products, but to potential biofuel feedstocks as well. Especially the Canadian government applauds the decision, because it allows Canadian canola to find a huge new market. Canola is a trademarked, genetically modified cultivar of rapeseed (the word derives from 'Canadian oil - low acid'), from which rapeseed oil is obtained, a major biofuel feedstock used for the production of biodiesel.

In a press release, International Trade Minister David Emerson says "This ruling will enable Canadian producers to access European markets and effectively market their products." The Canadian government adds that European demand for oilseeds is growing because the EU is promoting green fuels such as biodiesel, which is made from methyl esters extracted from crops like canola.

While the government did not have an immediate assessment of the impact of the ruling, Emerson's press secretary, Jennifer Chiu, said exports of the genetically modified crop provide an indication of the impact of the ban. In 1994, before the ban, Canada exported $425 million of canola to the European Union. After the ban was imposed, exports fell to $1.5 million:
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: GM :: genetically modified organisms :: biotechnology :: biosafety :: crops :: poplar :: cassava :: canola :: WTO :: EU :: Canada ::

The EU said it won't appeal the decision. That may be because it wants oilseeds for biodiesel, or because it argues that it changed its policy in 2004, when it allowed modified US canned corn to be sold. "As a result, most of the findings of the panel have become theoretical," EU trade negotiator Raimund Raith told the Associated Press. "There's no basis for claiming that the [EU] is maintaining the moratorium."

The EU initially imposed the ban because of fears about the impact of GMOs on people and the environment. Canada, the US and Argentina fought the move at the WTO, arguing that there was no scientific evidence to stop GMO imports.

Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification, which separates vegetable oil into methyl esters and glycerin, itself a useful product. Biodiesel, which burns more cleanly than petroleum products, can be used as a fuel by itself, or added to petroleum products.

Third generation biofuels
The question is whether this ruling opens the door to more GM biofuel crops in the future. In principle, many energy crops can be genetically altered and adapted to grow under specific climatic conditions, to resist certain pests and plant diseases or to yield more biomass.

In fact, in Europe there is considerable research into so-called "third generation" biofuels, which involves the creation of crops that are designed in such a way that they can yield specific products during a chosen bioconversion process.

For example, recently the genome of the common poplar was decoded, a first step en route to designer energy crops (earlier post). A biotech laboratory in Ghent, Belgium, which helped crack the genome, already produced a high-yield GM poplar which can be processed into paper and pulp products more easily. Third generation biofuels are just around the corner: by modifying the lignin structure of the woody biomass (the 'hard' parts of the tree), it can be triggered to decompose more easily, allowing for a more efficient conversion into liquid fuels.

In another development, there are some signs the US is trying to develop transgenic cassava which can be grown in the tropics and which will deliver a 'strategic reserve' of starch from which ethanol can be made (earlier post).

No matter how promising or dubious all this may sound, the classic questions on biosafety remain unchanged: the long term environmental effects of introducing such energy crops into the environment are unknown (there's a growing list of genetic contamination 'incidents'); there is no 'reversibility mechanism' in GM agriculture (once crops have been released into the environment, their spread cannot be contained and contamination can occur); and the longterm effects on animal/human consumption are unknown (even though this latter aspect is of lesser importance for energy crops).

The last word on GM energy crops certainly hasn't been said.

More information:

European Commission: Europe’s rules on GMOs and the WTO

Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade: Canada Applauds WTO Ruling on Genetically Modified Organism Imports - November 22, 2006

Monitoring NGO: Genewatch UK.

Monitoring NGO: GMwatch.

Greenpeace and Genewatch's CM Contamination Register.

Institute for Science in Society (UK): GM Crops Irrelevant for Africa.