Source: http://www.agbiotechnet.com/news/database/newsarticle.asp?id=4047

A group of environmental activists dressed in chemical protection gear and face masks handed a petition of more than 106,000 names to the World Trade Organisation on 25 May, urging it to stay out of rows over genetically modified (GM) food.

More than 30 representatives from Friends of the Earth International gathered in front of WTO headquarters in Geneva to accuse the global trade body of enabling giants such as the United States to force their GM goods into other markets in defiance of public opinion. The petition, signed by more than 106,000 individuals from 91 countries and over 544 organisations representing 48 million people, was given to a trade official with a letter that will be passed to WTO chief Supachai Panitchpakdi.

The group timed their peaceful petition to coincide with a two-day symposium on trade at the WTO that has attracted government officials from across the world. "The American government is trying to force-feed us these foods," said Adrian Bebb, a GM campaigner from Germany. "It is quite clear that the market has rejected genetically engineered goods. Consumers in Europe have said no and the only tool the US government has left to try to force this down our throats is the WTO," he told AFP. He said that the WTO dispute settlement process, "is completely undemocratic, it is secretive, the public does not have a say on what is going on, and at the end of the day they are going to make a ruling that could decide what we eat in the future."

The WTO's dispute body typically comprises three judges who rule over trade rows between member states, such as a dispute lodged by the United States and others last month against a de facto ban on GM goods by the European Union. A spokesman for the WTO, Keith Rockwell told AFP that the process was fair because the body's 147 members each have the power of veto over the selection of the judges. "The complaint about transparency of our process is raised quite often... but it is a process to which all member governments agreed," he said.

The activists claim that increased pressure from the United States, Canada, and Argentina over GM crops prompted the European Union to effectively lift its five-year-old ban on GM food last week. The European Union imposed a moratorium on approving new GM products in 1999 amid rising public concern about their environmental impact and safety as food. The moratorium angered the United States, the world's biggest producer of GM foods, which then lodged a complaint with the WTO calling for it to overturn the EU decision. On May 19 the EU endorsed an application by a Swiss biotech firm to import a genetically modified maize into the 25-nation bloc. "Good science and democracy went out of the window when the commission approved that maize," said Liana Stupples, from Friends of the Earth International.