The row over the war in Iraq is certainly the biggest, but it is not the only argument stretching across the Atlantic. The next looming row is likely to be over the European Union (EU) moratorium on new genetically modified (GM) products.

Pressure is mounting daily in the US House of Representatives for President Bush to take action against the EU.

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House Speaker Dennis Hastert has made repeated calls for the White House to file an immediate complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Mr Hastert, who represents the major corn and soybean producing state of Illinois, has written, along with other members of Congress, to the president urging action. Pro-GM members of Congress want the White House to pressure the WTO into challenging the EU’s four-year-old ban on new GM food substances.

US trade representative Robert Zoellick is also calling for a WTO ruling on the legality of the EU’s anti-GM stance. However, the Bush administration may have held back as it tries to garner European support for the war in Iraq.

US producers of GM products claim that the EU ban is nothing more than a trade barrier protecting the EU from superior US technology.

Public opposition to GM crops in the EU is most marked in those countries whose governments support the de facto moratorium on new GM products: France, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Austria and Luxembourg. Majority support for GM foods exists in only four countries: Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Finland.

According to EU data, European opposition to GM food has resulted in a 76% drop in GM crop field trials in the EU.

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Meanwhile, 61% of private biotech companies have revealed that they have cancelled GMO research projects during the past four years.

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