While most European nations state if a product has GMO technology it must be labeled, in America, consumers are accustomed to using GMOs with impunity, unaware if GMOs are present or not in the products they purchase -- and eat. The Europe Union has maintained "a voluntary eco-labeling program" in an effort to allow consumers to make informed choices ("Eco-labeling," What's wrong, 2009). However, the U.S. commercial agricultural interests opposed even this policy, arguing that there is no evidence of a lack of safety attached to GMOs. American agricultural interests argued that the simple labeling of GMOs was anti-free trade and discriminatory, because it created the implication that a safe, usually American-produced product was possibly unsafe. "The issues were never resolved and the WTO committees finally adopted a neutral report" ("Eco-labeling," What's wrong, 2009). The need to resolve difficult controversies regarding the free flow of trade between different nations is critical role of the WTO. The environment has been particularly contentious regarding its policies. One "controversy centered on 1998 revisions to Japan's 'Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy,' which tightened what had been less stringent fuel-efficiency standards for medium-weight automobiles," but which European and American automotive makers feared...

The inability of certain trade disputes to be relegated within or even between specific borders on such issues as the environment necessitates an objective body such as the WTO. But whether the WTO should have a particular ideological slant against protectionism, or for environmentalism, and if its decisions unfairly favor certain nations with specific types of capitalist enforcement mechanisms ensures that the WTO will continue to be a contentious organization. Clearly, there is a need for an objective negotiating body between nations, but whether the WTO fulfills this need, or only helps international trade for some nations, and some types of businesses (such as large multinationals) remains an open question.
Works Cited

"Greenhouse Gases Controversy." What's wrong with the WTO? August 7, 2009.

http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact1_e.htm

"Eco-Labeling Controversy." What's wrong with the WTO? August 7, 2009.

http://www.speakeasy.org/~peterc/wtow/wto-cont.htm#ecol

"What is the World Trade Organization?" WTO August 7, 2009.

http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact1_e.htm