Despite mounting pressure from American farmers, the US administration remains reluctant to return to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to seek the right to impose sanctions against the EU over European restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). As a press briefing on 28 July, US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk said «we are much better served» trying to resolve the longstanding transatlantic dispute over GMOs «through direct negotiations» than through the WTO. Kirk said he was «greatly encouraged» by the EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner John Dalli having «publicly committed to a much more transparent and science-based approach» for approving GMOs. The USTR’s remarks came the same day that the European Commission authorised the import of six GM maize varieties.

His comments came two days after the American Farm Bureau, the main lobby group for US farmers, urged him to go back to the WTO to request that the EU be penalised for not complying with a 2006 WTO ruling. The EU was condemned by the WTO for its years-long process for approving requests to cultivate or import GMOs. USTR Kirk felt that resuming the WTO process ultimately would not help US exporters because it would take years to conclude. He began the briefing by reminding reporters of US President Barack Obama’s overarching goal in trade policy: to double US exports by 2014 by promoting and financing exports and by improving market access.

Asked about the Commission proposal of 13 July to give individual EU member states the right to ban or allow cultivation of GM crops on their territory, Kirk said «we have expressed our concerns» to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. «We want an open, transparent process,» he said, adding «you are not going to be able to do that if you have member states all coming up with their own rules.» Presently, a variety of maize is the only GMO authorized for cultivation in the EU. It is grown in five member states, although it is banned in six. The Commission proposal aims to break the longstanding deadlock in a policy area where member states are deeply divided.

Given that most corn, cotton and soy grown in the US is genetically modified, US farmers say that the EU’s restrictions on growing, importing and marketing GMOs are hurting them commercially. Kirk explicitly linked these restrictions to the protectionist sentiment that he admitted exists in the US. «If you want to change the climate in the US, how about Europe open up your beef and GMOs to us,» he said. US beef has difficulty reaching EU markets due to US cattle being given growth hormones that the EU bans. Kirk said that since November 2009, he has been touring the US and has visited seventeen states in a campaign to persuade Americans of the benefits of trade. Protectionist sentiment among the US public has led to resistance within the US Congress to further trade liberalisation. n