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EU to Consider Allowing Imports of More GMO Maize |
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| BELGIUM: February 4, 2005 | ||
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BRUSSELS - EU environment experts will discuss whether to allow imports of a gene maize next month, potentially the fourth such food to win approval after the bloc lifted its biotech ban last year, officials said on Thursday.
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Two genetically modified (GMO) maize varieties were authorised for EU-wide use last year using a rubberstamp process that kicks in when the 25 governments cannot agree. A third GMO, a rapeseed type, should be approved in a couple of weeks. Another GMO maize will be discussed on March 7 when EU member state experts should vote on whether to allow imports for processing into animal feed. But the maize, known as 1507, would not be allowed in food products or to be sown as a crop. "The product may be put to the same uses as any other maize, with the exception of cultivation and uses as...food," read a European Commission draft document, obtained by Reuters. The maize is made jointly by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont Co, and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds. It is engineered to resist the corn borer insect and other pests, and glufosinate-ammonium herbicide. But the chances of the experts reaching agreement, either to approve the maize or reject it, look fairly slim, officials say. EU governments have been deadlocked over biotech foods for years, with the result that the Commission -- the EU's executive -- has found itself empowered under EU law to issue an approval. Since November 2003, the Commission has asked EU states nine times to vote on authorising a GMO food or feed product. In eight cases, there was no agreement and in the ninth, the deadlock around the table resulted in the vote being postponed.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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