EU considers ban on US GM imports

A decision to block imports of US animal fodder into the EU could be taken on 15 April after it was revealed that Syngenta had mistakenly sold tonnes of unauthorised GM maize Bt-10 to the US.

Discussions have started in Brussels on 12 April to decide whether to impose a temporary ban on imports of US animal feed after it was revealed that an unauthorised GM maize variety – Bt10 – had found its way into EU markets through the US (see EURACTIV, 4 April 2005).

Syngenta, the Swiss company producing the crops, first informed the US authorities in December 2004 that it mistakenly mixed Bt-10 with its authorised Bt-11 variety. But the European Food Safety Authority was only alerted on 23 March. The three-month delay has upset the Commission, which says it will seek assurances that it does not happen again.

Moreover Syngenta is experiencing delays in coming up with the so-called ‘detection method’ to identify Bt-10 in feed crop imports. A spokesperson for Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said this would be an important element in the Commission’s decision which is likely to be taken on 15 April. 

According to environmental NGO Friends of the Earth, member state representatives meeting in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health unanimously backed a de facto ban on US GM imports late on 12 April. The Commission is expected to back this decision in the coming days.

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