TTIP Could be Tipping Point for Biotech in EU

Assuming they get past the National Security Agency spying issue, negotiations on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) may ultimately hinge on agricultural issues - and they are big ones.

“It is important that we get it right,” President Obama said about the proposed trade agreement last month in Ireland. “That means resisting the temptation to downsize our ambitions or avoid tough issues just for the sake of getting a deal.”

Congressman Steve King of Iowa is hopeful that means access to the European market for genetically-modified crops will be addressed head on. “I think we have to just keep pushing the GMOs and push the sound science that we have … then eventually the trade component of this thing will wash over that continent and we’ll get it done,” said King.

US Grains Council CEO Tom Sleight believes the trade negotiations may provide an educational opportunity to bring the science on biotech crops forward. “I think it’s a great time for us to engage in a very positive discussion on the role of biotechnology not only in the European market but also in the United States and meeting the food and energy needs for the world,” he says.

During a recent hearing, National Corn Growers Association president Pam Johnson expressed some optimism about the possibilities of Europe being more open to biotech crops. “Once in a while you hear something optimistic about maybe the EU should take a different look at biotech. We’re still very hopeful that will happen,” she said.

In other words, TTIP could be the tipping point that finally brings Europe into the 21st century in acceptance of the important role biotechnology can play in feeding a growing global population.