GM corn deadlock in Europe
European Union governments today failed to agree on a contentious proposal to approve a genetically modified corn made by a US company for use in processed food.
Diplomats said EU environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg were deadlocked in a vote on giving approval to the introduction of the corn product, known as NK603.
Nine EU countries – Latvia, Denmark, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Italy, Greece, Austria and Luxembourg – voted against the licence, and two countries, Belgium and Spain, abstained.
Nine others, led by Britain and the Netherlands were for the approval.
The stalemate however, will not prevent the EU’s head office from approving the corn for sale on the European market. That decision is expected in the next few weeks, officials said.
The European Commission urged EU governments last Friday to approve the corn hybrid, produced by Monsanto in St Louis, Missouri, after it underwent “a thorough safety assessment for any adverse impact on public health”.
The union last month lifted its six-year moratorium on approving genetically modified organisms.
