EU delays GMO approvals decision

The European commission has delayed a decision on Wednesday onwhether to allow European farmers to grow numerous types ofgenetically modified crops, reports the IHT.

The paper says that Brussels' decision to refer the crops, two GMmaize crops and a potato modified to produce extra starch, to theEuropean Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to conduct more tests willheighten tensions with leading agro-science companies and risksfurther friction with trading partners like the US.

The commission has come under pressure from industry andenvironmental groups over the products, which include a potatoproduced by BASF of Germany and two strains of corn, one producedby DuPont and Dow AgroSciences of the US, and another corn varietyfrom the Swiss company Syngenta.

The Guardian reports that the biotech industry is frustrated overwhat it sees as the EU's delay in approving GM products to deny itmarket access.

"After more than three years since the first positive safetyopinion by EFSA, the time has come for the commission to live up tothe rules the EU set for the approval of biotech crops," the paperreports Gyula Kovacs, Pioneer Europe director of operations assaying.

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