EU set to approve Syngenta GM maize on March 28

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU regulators will approve imports of a genetically modified (GM) maize type next week that should help Spain's livestock farmers secure extra supply of raw material to feed their animals, a document said on Wednesday.

The maize, known by its codename GA21, is marketed by Swiss agrochemicals company Syngenta and intended for use in food and animal feed, not for growing in Europe's fields.

According to a draft document due to be adopted by the European Commission on March 28, imports of GA21 maize will be labeled "not for cultivation" and be permitted for food, food ingredients and animal feed produced from the modified strain.

The approval will be valid for a standard 10 years across the EU's 27 countries and enter into force on publication in the EU's Official Journal, likely to take only a few days after it has been formally endorsed by the Commission, the EU executive.

EU law allows for rubberstamp GM authorizations when ministers cannot agree after a certain time. Since 2004, the Brussels-based European Commission has approved a string of GMs -- nearly all maize -- in this way, outraging green groups.

EU approval of GA21 maize is of particular interest to grain traders in Spain, and also Portugal, since the GM strain may only be imported in processed form at present. Spain's growing demand for grain for use in feed is mainly focused on maize.

The request for EU approval by Syngenta, one of the world's largest producers of GM seeds, would allow GA21 imports as grain. When authorized, those imports are expected to come into EU markets mainly from Argentina, a major GM crop grower.

In February, EU agriculture ministers were unable to reach a consensus agreement that would allow imports of five separate GM products, one of which was insect-resistant GA21 maize.

Of the EU-27, 12 countries voted in favor of an approval: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Netherlands.

Nine countries voted against -- Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovenia -- and the remaining EU member countries abstained.

(Reporting by Jeremy Smith, editing by Atul Prakash)