FRANCE: September 6, 1999

   PARIS - President Jacques Chirac said that France and the EU would
   oppose the sale of genetically modified foods and hormone treated beef
   at a global trade summit starting in November. 

   Chirac, speaking on France's TV5, said his stance was not incompatible
   with his overall support for the benefits of a globalised economy.

   He said France would vigorously defend its position at the upcoming
   ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Seattle
   from November 30 to December 3.

   "Some in Seattle at the WTO are going to support the possibility of
   selling freely on the market food products for livestock and for
   people that are genetically modified or have undergone treatment with
   hormones," Chirac said.

   "Our conviction is that we have no assurance that these practices meet
   standards for the health of mankind and we cannot play with that," he
   said. "We French will be very firm on this point in Seattle."

   Chirac spoke against a background of a summer-long wave of protests by
   French fruit and vegetable farmers at what they say are unacceptably
   low prices imposed by large supermarket chains that buy in bulk.

   The outcry has overlapped with a series of violent protests against
   U.S. companies like McDonald's and Coca-Cola in reaction to tariffs
   imposed on some French luxury goods by the United States.

   The U.S. tariffs were imposed punitively after the WTO ruled the
   European Union was illegally restricting the import of U.S. and
   Canadian beef treated with hormones.

   There is no evidence that genetically modified organisms (GMO) harm
   humans and scientific studies by the EU have failed to produce proof
   that hormone treated beef is a health hazard.

   Chirac said one way of resolving the dispute was to create an
   impartial scientific body within the United Nations to assess the
   risks of GMOs, hormones and other agricultural issues.

   But he said that as long as any doubts remained, countries should be
   allowed to ban the import of contested foods.

   "Either we are sure that everything is fine and the concerned
   scientists say so, in which case there is no problem," he said.

   "Or we are not sure, which is the case with GMOs and hormone treated
   meat, and we accept that countries protect themselves against possible
   imports of this sort until the scientific authorities have given the
   green light," he said.

   He said Europe's worries were compounded because GMOs also carried
   environmental risks, as shown by a U.S. study earlier this year which
   showed pollen from genetically modified corn harmed the larvae of the
   monarch butterfly.

   "We know very well that GMOs can destroy certain parts of the
   environment, remember the case of the butterfly," he said.

   The U.S. study found that the hybrid corn was safe for human
   consumption.

   Story by Christopher Noble

   REUTERS NEWS SERVICE