The US administration has announced plans to study the long-term impact of GM foods on the environment. Details of the study, a significant response to consumer concerns, were outlined by Agriculture Secretary Mr Dan Glickman, who insisted worries about the crops - especially strong in Europe - were "scientifically unfounded".
"With all that biotechnology has to offer, it is nothing if it's not accepted" by consumers, he told a National Press Club audience in Washington. However, contrary to some reports, he stopped short of proposing that GM food be labelled, despite growing calls within the US for such a measure.
In addition to establishing regional research centres to study the impact of biotech products, Mr Glickman said he would ask an independent panel of scientists to review the US Department of Agriculture's process for approving new seed varieties.
USDA also will conduct an internal review to make sure its regulatory and product-promotion functions are kept separate, he said. "The scientists who evaluate and approve biotech products for the market must be free of any hint of influence from trade support and other non-regulatory areas within USDA."
The US department has so far approved 50 varieties of crops that have been engineered to be resistant to insects, herbicides or plant viruses, while some 50 per cent of US crops are now GM.
Anti-GM groups in the US reiterated their concerns that genetically altered crops could be unhealthy and harm the food chain if they escaped from farms into the wild. But they welcomed what they interpreted as the US government's more "pro-consumer" stance.
Mr Larry Bohlen, director of health and environmental programmes for Friends of the Earth, none the less, accused him of toeing the line of biotech companies. "He's telling the biotech industry's line and ignoring the real environmental alarm bells that we're hearing surrounding genetic engineered products."
But Ms Rebecca Goldburg, a scientist with the Environmental Defence Fund, praised Mr Glickman for acknowledging the importance of consumer acceptance. "He certainly admitted that these concerns are legitimate," she said.
