Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 4/4/22

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is expressing cautious optimism about the possibility of the EU opening its market to more U.S. biotech crops. But USTR’s latest annual report on foreign trade barriers shows the extent of the challenge.

“This has been a traditionally difficult area between the United States and European Union,” Tai said on Thursday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. “Working with Secretary Vilsack, I do believe that the current disruptions to trade created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may provide us new opportunities and windows for collaboration with the EU, which we’re also seeking to capitalize on.”

In the queue: The U.S. is currently tracking 49 agricultural biotechnology product applications (including renewals) submitted to the EU, related to corn, soybean, rapeseed and cotton, USTR said in its foreign trade barriers report. Of those applications, 41 are under scientific review by the European Food Safety Authority and eight await action by the European Commission’s political committee process.

Slow going: The EU issued 12 approvals and six renewals for genetically-engineered crops in 2021, compared to one approval in 2020. “While these new authorizations were welcomed, the EU’s average approval time for new GE crops in 2021 was approximately five-and-a-half years,” USTR said. The EU’s legally prescribed approval time for such products is one year: six months for the EFSA review and six months for the political committee process.