Here are some of the main conclusions of the panel of WTO judges, according to a copy of the findings obtained on Wednesday by Reuters:

- The panel found that the EU operated a de facto moratorium on considering new GMO imports between June 1999 and Aug. 29, 2003. This moratorium resulted in a failure to complete "approval procedures without undue delay" and so violated WTO rules.

- But as the moratorium has since been lifted, the panel made no recommendations for action.

- Separately, it also found that undue delay existed in 24 of the 27 individual product applications on which the three complainants had sought a ruling.

- It asked the WTO's dispute settlement body to request the EU to bring the measures into line with the rules. But according to trade sources, virtually all of these products have either since been approved or their applications withdrawn.

- The judges also found that bans imposed by six EU states - France, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy and Belgium - on products already approved by the EU violated trade rules and need to be revised.

- The individual states had failed to provide adequate scientific evidence of the risks to human health or the environment.