EU's BONINO PREPARES TO SAMPLE FOOD SAFETY

The European Unino's consumer chief es about to sip from a poisoned chalice.

That's how some people describe Emma Bonino's possible appointment as the new food czar - and she herself says it's a fair analysis. The idea, floated last week by Commission President Jaques Santer is to prevent any future mad-cow crises by consolidating the executive body's food-safety powers into one unit and hand it to the commissioner affectionaly know in her native Italy as La Bonino.

The move could suddenly make the outspoken Ms. Bonino, 48 years old, one of the most influential and powerful figures in Europe's $640 billion-a-year food and drink industry. It also would put her at the center of the raging conflict over the introduction of genetically modified food - a struggle involving everyone from consumer groups to farmers to governments.

But Ms. Bonino is doing a lot more than entering one of Europe's most sensitive industrial and regulatory battles. She's also walking into a political no-man's land.

How Much Power?

The problem is that nobody really dnows how much power an EU food

czar will have. It's not just that responsability for food safety is currently split among four different commissioners - agricolture, industry, health and consumer affairs - and that sorting the situation out is a bureaucratic mess that Ms. Bonino spent last weekend trying to understand.

Nor is the problem simply that Mr. Santer was vague in outlining his long-term goals concerning food safety though he's expected to make more concrete proposals by mid February.

More importantly, the 15 EU member states don't grant the executive body much power over consumer protection. In other words, creating a food-safety unit is something that Ms. Bonino herself describes as an act with "a risky legal heritage" that could lead to intense political fighting.

"But somebody ha to take this risk", she adds.

Staying with the Battle

Ms. Bonino is not someone to shy away from a fight, having more than once spent time in jail for her progressive views. During the past 20 years fhe has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of a number of causes, starting with her successful campaign to legalize abortion in Italy in the 1970s. AIDS, drugs, and human rights also received her attention in the many years she spent as a leading member of Italy's Radical Party - the very party that helped elect a porn star to parliament.

She's taken her energetic and outspoken style to the commission since her appointment in 1995. Her diverse portfolio includes fisheries and humanitarian aid, and she is now famous for being airlifted by helicopter into a fishing boat and for visiting someof the most remote and dangerous regions of the world. She fearlessly confronts fisherman outraged at her proposals to cut fleets.

But even while her vlunt style angers fishermen and governments, she wins respect. She freely adlits when she doesn't know something, and she works while other commissioner take vacations. At the end of a two-day meeting with fish ministers last month she collpsed from exhaustion. Even the Daily Telegraph, one of Britain's most Euro-skeptical papers, couldn't resist her charms, writing that "she's wrong (about fishing policy), but she's very likable. "Last year, the Franch magazine La Vie named her "European of the year".

Czar of Safety

Until now, however, Ms. Bonino's biggest pubblicity splashes had little to do with her role as consumer-affairs commissioner. Mr. Santer's proposal could change that.

The idea of creating a food-safety supremo is a direct result of the mad-cow crisis, but the impact may be far-reaching. The crisis made clear to consumer and many politicians that the commission, like 12 of the EU member states, puts food safety controls in the hands of the same officials responsible for promoting the industry - a clear conflict of interest.

But the commission's consumer-policy directorate is poorly equipped to handle extra responsability. Created in 1995, it is the youngest of the executive body's 24 policy branches. It has the smallest budget - mere 19 milion European currency units ($22.8 milion) or just 0.021% of the EU budget. Agricolture receives roughly 40 bilion ECUs, or 50% of the budget. And the consumer branch has just 41 officials, compared with more than 1,000 in agriculture.

"It's not a simple question of adding another three or four officials", Ms. Bonino says.

"The problem is much deeper than that".

She argues that Europe needs a complete averhaul of its consumer policy. That means taking up the question in the current constitutional-review talks, wich are scheduled to conclude in June.

Nor is it clear that Europe's food and drink industry would welcome the idea. "Everything the food industry does today is under suspicion because of the mad-cow crisis", says Raymond Destin, general delegate of the Confederation of Food & Drink Industries of the EU.

"Giving more responsibility to one of the commissioners is not going to solve the problem".

Confidence in Food

Nevertheless, Europeans are pressing for action. The mad-cow crisis raised to an all-time high consumer awarness of how food is produced and monitored in Europe. It also made plain to everyone that consumer's growing expectations for "all-natural" products clash with the industry's increased use of biotechnology.

If Ms. Bonino's powers are enhanced, she is sure to find herself fighting with industry, consumer groups and governments over how to handle the introduction of genetically modified foods. Whilenew strains of vegetables, fruits and even livestock could trasform the industry, Europe's consumers are reluctant to accept them. If the industry and government officials fail to assure consumers that the new products are safe, Europe's agro-chemical industry could be left behind.

For her part, Ms. Bonino is witholding judgment on the issue of whether genetically modified food is safe. "As far as we know there is no danger to human health today," she says. "But what about in 20 years?"

Europe's biotechnology sector could even benefit from the establishment of a food-safety unit. Because approval of new foods is the job of several different parts of the EU and national bureaucracies, it takes twice as long for product approval in Europe as in the U.S. or Japan. Industry officials say creating a food-safety authority could shorten the process.

And while Ms. Bonino has a knack for upsetting vested interests, she isn't as radical as her resume implies. "I hate the phrase consumer protection," Ms. Bonino says. "Consumer should be informed and then decide for themselves, although this is easier said than done."

The same thing might be said about becoming food-safety czar.