A Posteriori

According to Google News, the World Trade Organization has ruled against the European Union restriction against restrictions of genetically engineered crops.

Now, let’s think about this for a second. Without having searched for European polling data on the subject, I think it’s still safe to assume that a majority of Europeans are against the import of genetically engineered food. As the government that is charged with representing the popular will of Europeans, it’s the EU’s duty to govern in the interest of the population at large.

Except that somehow, someway, it has been decreed by the self-appointed prophets of the free market that an extra-governmental institution such as the WTO has the right to overrule a government that is, at least on the surface, democratically elected. Furthermore, this extra-governmental body isn’t subject to any constitution or legal precedent. It has the power to unilaterally rule on matters of trade, presumably drawing from its bias in favour of corporate interests.

There is no oversight for this “free trade” organization. WTO rulings, to the best of my knowledge, cannot be overridden by democratic referendum or national court rulings, after all appeals are exhausted. The government subject to this ruling must either comply or find itself kicked out of the WTO, suffering the consequences of reduced international trade.

It’s even more perverse that the country that effectively controls the WTO, the United States, chose to ignore a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ruling in Canada’s favour that requires the U.S. to remove its tariffs on Canadian lumber, claiming the supremacy of the favourable WTO ruling over the unfavourable NAFTA ruling.

European sensitivities about the potentially hazardous effects of taking genes from different forms of plant life or the ethical bankruptcy of terminator seeds be damned! Corporate profits must be protected at all costs!