July 12, 1999

Officials of two meat organizations and the South Dakota Farm Bureau say the European Union's ban on beef imports from animals treated with growth hormones not only means lost U.S. trade but the "very being" of the World Trade Organization.

"Despite rulings by the WTO that the EU ban...is illegal, the EU has continued to maintain a non-scientific ban against U.S. beef imports since 1989," the groups note. U.S. beef producers believe the cost to the U.S. beef industry may be as much as $500 million a year in lost trade.

"But the price is much more than economic," they add. "EU actions threaten the very being of the WTO and the future of international trade." Consumers, not the EU governments, should have the choice of whether to buy U.S. beef, they say.

The three groups plan a news conference on the issue Tuesday at the National Press Club's Zenger Room at 9 a.m.

The conflicts between science and food safety fears may be among the most critical flashpoints in coming WTO negotiations. Though U.S. officials would like to strengthen the WTO's reliance on sound science and risk assessment, they also fear efforts by Europe and other countries to move the organization in the opposite direction.