WTO ruling in favour of EU position on hormones
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled in favour of the EU's arguments in support of a ban on the use of hormones for growth-promoting purposes. The WTO's Appellate Body reversed two of the three main conclusions of an earlier panel which had considered the EU's ban on meat from hormone-treated cattle. The decision was welcomed by the Commission as a victory for European consumers. Furthermore, it should strengthen confidence in the WTO dispute settlement procedure, according to the Commission. The Body ruled that the EU's Member States had the right to establish higher levels of sanitary protection for their consumers than those laid down by international standards. It also ruled that the ban was not inconsistent with other EU policies in respect of sanitary protection. The Body did, however, uphold the panel's view that the risk assessment on which the EU had based its ban was not focused specifically on residues in meat of hormone-treated cattle. The Commission has welcomed the WTO's decision, and will now be examining how the EU can comply with the ruling. In particular, it will be looking at conducting a new risk assessment in line with the requirements of the ruling.