WASHINGTON (AP) - Having failed in recent talks to persuade the European Union to lift its moratorium on so-called biotech food, the United States is taking the fight to the World Trade Organization.
"We are disappointed but not surprised that these consultations have not resulted in any changes to the EU's five-year-old illegal and unscientific moratorium," said Richard Mills, a spokesman for the trade representative.
The European Union put a moratorium on biotech foods and grain because of safety concerns. EU officials recently have been working on a system that would allow them to label genetically engineered food so that consumers can choose whether to buy it.
Last month, U.S. trade officials filed a complaint with the WTO to push Europe to lift the moratorium, arguing that it is an unfair trade barrier.
"The EU's moratorium is illegal, denies access to Europe's markets for healthy, nutritious biotech products from America and around the world, and denies choices to European consumers," Mills said.
U.S. officials have said they filed the complaint with the world's top trade regulators partly because they worried that Europe's anti-biotech sentiment is spreading to developing countries since some African countries rejected U.S. biotech food aid last fall.
Biotech crops have been widely grown in the United States for years, including corn and soybeans that have been genetically modified to resist insects or disease.
A U.S. case against the EU on genetically modified foods has added to a growing list of trade friction between the United States and Europe.
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