OCA Condemns Announcement of WTO challenge on Modified Foods

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 14, 2003

CONTACT:

Ronnie Cummins - (218) 349-3836
Simon Harris - (510) 459-6327

US Consumer Group Condemns Announcement of WTO challenge on Modified
Foods

San Francisco, CA - The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), a national
grassroots network of over 500,000 people, condemns today's declaration
of a US WTO challenge against the EU for their policy on Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMOs). On Tuesday US Trade Representative Robert
Zoellick announced that a complaint had been filed with the WTO in
Geneva. If the US and EU don't reach an agreement within 60 days, the
issue will be resolved by an unelected panel of WTO trade bureaucrats.

In response to pressure from millions of concerned consumers, the EU has
enacted strict labeling requirements for genetically modified (GM) foods
and since 1998 has placed a moratorium on approving new GM varieties for
planting or import.

The OCA believes that consumers in Europe and developing countries
should have the right to refuse being used as guinea pigs. The current
regulatory system in the US, which requires no long-term safety testing
on GM foods, is one of corporate junk science.

Independent studies have shown that Genetically Modified crops pollute
the environment and neighboring farms, increase pesticide use, and may
lead to unforeseen health risks such as allergies and antibiotic
resistance.

"Consumers worldwide are concerned about GM foods precisely because
science has not shown them to be safe," stated Ronnie Cummins, OCA's
National Director, "Even the British Medical Association has called for
a moratorium on these foods until they can be adequately tested for
their health impacts."

Polls in both the US and Europe consistently show that over 90% of the
public want modified foods to be labeled so they can choose to avoid
them. After the EU enacted labeling laws in 1999, most food companies
chose to buy non-GM corn and soy rather than label their foods as
containing modified ingredients.

"This WTO action is going to backfire on the biotech industry," added
Cummins "Bullying Europe and the rest of the world on the GMO issue is
going to speed up the collapse of agricultural biotechnology and
eventually the WTO itself. "

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