U.S. Withdraws Genetically Engineered Animal Feed Donation

After Bosnia's Hesitation

Agence France Presse 30jan01

SARAJEVO -- The United States has withdrawn a four million dollar donation of genetically engineered (GE) corn for animal feed after Bosnian officials hesitated to approve it over fears of health risks for humans, the embassy said here Tuesday.

The U.S. embassy said in a statement that the shipment of the corn could not be delivered, as Bosnian officials had failed to take delivery of it. In the statement the U.S. embassy said it was "disappointed" that governments of both entities -- Serbs' Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat federation -- "could not decide in a timely fashion to accept its donation of 40,000 metric of corn for animal feed." The donation was aimed at helping the country recover from a drought that hit local harvests last year. Last week Federation government officials expressed concern over the donated corn and demanded thorough information on possible effects on both humans and animals. "The inclusion of the genetically modified corn is not unusual," the U.S. embassy statement said, adding that "such corn was routinely exported all over the world for human and animal consumption". The governments of the two entities that effectively rule Bosnia did not comment on the issue Tuesday.

source: http://www.centraleurope.com/bosniatoday/news.php3?id=273802 31jan01