Bush & Gore Love Frankenfoods

Bioengineered Crops Hold Great Promise For Future of Agriculture,
Candidates Agree October 2000
By David Safford

Agricultural biotechnology will find a supporter occupying the White House
next year, regardless of which candidate wins the election in November,
advisers from the campaigns of Vice President Gore and Texas Gov. George W.
Bush said Oct. 5.

Speaking at a debate on science issues sponsored by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, representatives of each campaign said
biotechnology holds great promise for the future of agriculture and that any
regulation of it should be based entirely on sound science.

Gore's chief domestic policy advisor, David Beier, agreed that science must
guide the nation's biotechnology policy, and noted that the vice president
supports the Food and Drug Administration's pending rules governing the
approval of bioengineered crops.

Those rules, which are expected to be proposed this fall, will require
biotechnology companies to consult with FDA, and will set out guidelines for
voluntary labeling of foods derived from biotechnology.

"We have supported voluntary labeling methods, so that we can be careful
that those labels are accurate," he said. "It would not be particularly
availing if labels ended up with a skull and crossbones saying that this
particular product is dangerous if there is no scientific basis for it."
Beier also emphasized the promise that these new technologies hold for
feeding the poorer nations of the world.

He said that "agricultural biotechnology offers tremendous promise to
stabilize the world's food system," citing the need for some countries to
produce enough food for their own people.

"We have to be very careful in how we in the developed world deal with this
particular technology," he continued. "The challenge isn't just what should
or should not be on the label in Europe or the United States, the challenge
is: 'What can this technology offer to the developing world to help confront
those international issues?' "

European Reluctance

Speaking on behalf of the Bush campaign, retired House Science Committee
Chairman Robert Walker (R-Pa.) said Bush is "concerned" about limits that
European nations have placed on the importation of genetically modified
American crops.

"He is concerned about the fact that the European Union has banned some of
our crops from coming in there just based upon the fact that they are
genetically modified," Walker said. "He has taken the position that he will
fight to ensure that U.S. products are allowed entry into the European
Union, and that accepted scientific principles are applied to all
regulations in this regard."

European nations and citizens generally view foods derived from
biotechnology with skepticism at best, and with deep distrust at worst. A
number of European nations have banned the sale of genetically modified
crops, while consumers are shunning genetically modified products.
Critics of the European position on agricultural biotechnology have claimed
that those countries are responding emotionally to the issue, and are
ignoring scientific evidence of the safety of bioengineered foods.