BioWorld International Correspondent

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Parliament's committee on agriculture and rural development is due to vote through a report on biotechnology prospects and challenges in Europe Dec. 19.

In its current form, the report, drafted by Finnish liberal Kyösti Virrankoski, takes a positive view of modern biotechnology, describing it as "one of the leading new technologies," and a potential major contributor to European Union objectives of growth, competitiveness and job creation.

It extols the benefits for agriculture - "increased yields, reduced use of herbicides and pesticides, less fossil fuel use and reduced soil erosion" - and calls for a common approach to updating EU rules on biotech use in agriculture so as to allow the exploitation of the opportunities it offers. It urges clearer rules to permit coexistence, faster product authorization processes, and support for genetic engineering.

But in advance of the committee vote, opposition is growing among critics of European biotechnology, who described the text as unashamedly promoting the biotech corporate agenda. One of the leading pressure groups campaigning against the motion, the International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside, is urging its supporters to hold members of the European Parliament accountable for their actions by quizzing them now on their voting intentions.

"If we don't put big pressure on them now, they will surely capitulate to the corporate GM buyout," said the group's leader, Julian Rose, on Dec. 4, who warned that the proposal in its current form is "totally dedicated to promoting GMOs in Europe."

He is encouraging sympathizers to ask committee members how many of their constituents have asked them to back increased use of GMOs in European agriculture and food, and how far science-based decisions on GMOs are more relevant to citizens' true needs than decisions based on public opinion. The recommended questionnaire also inquires about the evidence MEPs are aware of on GMO cross-contamination of other crops, and whether MEPs will support calls for a new 10-year GMO moratorium in Europe. In a new approach to circulating information, the campaigners say they are going to publicize MEPs' answers on a website.

More Evidence That European Biotech Lags

A new report from the European Commission on Dec. 1 provided additional evidence that European pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovation is increasingly lagging behind its international competitors. The report said the U.S. outperforms Europe in terms of both rates of growth and the incidence of pharmaceutical production as a share of total manufacturing. European labor productivity in the industry is only about half U.S. levels. Capital deepening in the U.S. has occurred at consistently faster rates than the EU, and many European countries are specialized in low value-added pharmaceutical and biotech activities, with low capital intensity.

From an original analysis of all pharmaceutical and biotechnological patents granted from 1974 to 2003 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to inventors and institutions located in the U.S., Japan and the main European countries, the study showed that the U.S. is the main locus of innovative activities, and that its lead has grown over time.

The number of pharmaceutical patents held by U.S.-based inventors increased by 7 percentage points between 1984-1993 and 1994-2003, and when each patent is weighted by its importance (as approximated by the number of citations it receives), the U.S. advantage emerges even more clearly.

The study also records that in recent years, the number of patents in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology granted by the Chinese patent office has increased, at the same time as U.S. patents granted to Chinese inventors have increased - demonstrating, the study said, a process of accumulation of scientific and technological capabilities. And India's recent performance in biopharmaceutical innovation, as reflected in patents granted, is similar to that of China.

"If these trends persist, China and India will strengthen their positions, becoming attractive and competitive destinations of foreign direct outward investment by multinational corporations," the study concluded.