ASA and the U.S. Biotech Crops Alliance (USBCA) urged the European health and food safety commissioner last week to consider several key principles while reviewing the regulatory procedure for approving the import of new biotechnology products.

While the current regulations covering imports of biotechnology products are a science-based and workable framework for imports, the implementation process has slowed to a stop and led to large disruptions in the trans-Atlantic trade of raw materials used by EU food and feed producers, increasing costs for producers and consumers.

The last approval dates back to November 2013 and the review of the approval procedure for the import of biotech events has introduced an additional level of uncertainty.

In a letter to Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, directorate General Health and Food Safety European Commission, ASA, USBCA and several ag industry listed a number of core commitments to consider, including upholding the EU's single-market for imported biotech crops; no further delay decisions on products  that have completed all risk assessment and administrative procedures; and ensuring regulations are consistent with the EU’s obligations under the WTO SPS agreement, and to meet the timeline of 18 months approval.

The groups stated these principles, among others would support several goals of the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations and ensure strong mechanisms for resolving trade issues.

Click here to read the entire letter.