AUGUSTA – Maine agricultural leaders are carefully watching an international meeting in Malaysia this week on the Cartagena Protocol on Boisafety, a summit intended to regulate international trade in genetically engineered organisms.

Mary Ellen Johnston, marketing director of the Maine Department of Agriculture who moderated a forum last fall on GE issues, said Monday that the state is in a favorable position because it has “almost no GE crops.”

“We have the benefit to look and learn,” she said. “We are fortunate here in Maine that we can afford to sit back and watch what is happening around the world and in the country.”

Rep. Linda Rogers-McKee sponsored legislation last year that would have made the state “GE-free” and imposed a three-year moratorium on growing such crops in Maine. She withdrew it when the bill was changed substantially without a public hearing, and instead requested that the Department of Agriculture study the GE-free issue.

Johnston said the Agriculture Department determined at its forum that Maine does not have the resources to promote one type of agriculture over another, and that any move to promote GE-free foods would cut into Maine’s steadily growing organic food market.

“But there will be a fair number of folks in Maine very tuned in to the Malaysia talks,” said Johnston. “It’s good to watch what the European Union countries are doing. If there is a movement towards more acceptance, we need to watch it very carefully.”

Johnston said another Maine forum on GE foods may be convened, depending on the results of the worldwide summit, which will be held this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Bush administration is expected to push foreign governments to eliminate bans on GE crops.

Over the past year, a subtle shift has taken place, particularly in the European Union, allowing for greater acceptance of GE foods.

In January, Germany reached consensus on a law that will allow GE foods to be grown and sold in Germany. The draft requires that all GE foods must be labeled clearly.

In Brussels, a canned GE maize has been approved for sale, a product already on the market in the United States, Canada, Australia and Switzerland.

And in Britain, the government has been forced to postpone plans to approve GE crops after Wales and Scotland refused to cooperate.

The EU imposed a moratorium on the farming and import of GE foods and grains in 1998 because of safety concerns. Except for the importation of approved strains of GE corn and soybeans for use in food products, the EU states banned most GE crops, as well as restricted GE field trials. Japan and South Korea also will not accept GE crops.

The United States dominates GE crops, which were introduced in 1996 and make up 22 percent of the world’s produce. The top GE crops in this country are corn, soybean and cotton.

Closer to home, Vermont has led New England in attempts to restrict GE crops, while Maine has proposed and failed to pass restricting or labeling legislation a half-dozen times.