EU clashes on order to lift GMO bans

By Jeff Mason

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - EU ministers failed to agree on Tuesday whether to order Austria to lift its bans on two genetically modified (GMO) maize types, passing the final decision back to the European Commission, officials said.

The Commission had wanted Austria to scrap its bans on importing GMO maize for processing into food and animal feed.

Now, under EU law, it will gain the legal right to adopt and enforce its own decision -- meaning Austria would be ordered to lift the bans.

Between 1997 and 2000, five European Union countries banned specific GMOs on their territory, focusing on three maize and two rapeseed types approved shortly before the start of the EU's six-year moratorium on new biotech authorizations.

Austria banned two GMO maize types, one in 1997 and the other in 1999. The first ban was against MON 810 maize made by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto and the second against T25 maize made by German drugs and chemicals group Bayer.

At least 14 countries voted against the Commission's draft order against Austria but this was not enough under the EU's complex weighted voting system to reject the move.

"The Commission takes note of the strong concerns expressed against the proposal," Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told a news conference.

"The Commission will now consider the situation before deciding what to do next, including an assessment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) implications."