The US may push Africa to accept gene-altered (GMO) food now that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled the EU broke rules by barring GMO foods and seeds, but Africans vowed yesterday to resist.

?We do not want GM (genetically modified) foods and our hope is that all of us can continue to produce non-GM foods?, Zambian Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana told Reuters in Lusaka. ?It (the WTO decision) does not change our position. Our position is based on scientific evidence and information available to us. That is the best way to assure the Kenyan public that it is something that they can consume?, Kenyan Agriculture Minister Kipruto arap Kirwa told Reuters.

The WTO ruled on Tuesday that the European Union and six member states had broken trade rules by barring entry to genetically modified crops and foods. A US trade official confirmed findings of the preliminary ruling, contained in a confidential report sent only to the parties. The closely watched verdict addressed a complaint brought against the EU by leading GMO producers the United States, Argentina and Canada. The European Union's opponents asserted that the moratorium, which Brussels argued was never official, hurt their exports and was not based on science.

<B>Safety unascertained</B>

Manufacturers of the biotech seeds, designed to increase yields and resist pests better than normal seeds, maintain they are safe for human consumption. European consumers, fearing the effects of ?Frankenstein foods? have resisted them. Even African countries facing food shortages, such as Zambia, have refused to accept gene-altered food donations, arguing their safety had not been ascertained.

Those countries that take in GMO-food demand stringent certifications and milling before it arrives on their borders. Regional heavyweight South Africa is one of the few countries on the continent to embrace the controversial technology.

Campaigners and analysts saw the US using the WTO ruling to press Africans to accept GMO food imports on the basis that Europe, which has usually backed the obstinate African position, will itself have to take them.

?There is a serious warning there to Africa not to restrict access to US, Canadian and Argentian markets. But I think it has the potential to increase resistance to GMOs in Africa and elsewhere,? Leslie Liddell, director of Biowatch South Africa, told Reuters in Johannesburg. ?American industry is already saying that the result is a signal to the rest of the world?, Daniel Mittler, trade adviser at Greenpeace International, added.

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