Agricultural Biotechnology will Find a 
Supporter Occupying the White House
Regardless of Which Candidate Wins !

Monsanto Press Release 1oct00

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.