EU executive presses forward on GM crop cultivation

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's executive backed proposals on Wednesday to allow two genetically modified maize types to be grown in Europe, to be submitted to a vote by national EU biotech experts next month, an official said.

The crops are Bt-11 maize, engineered by Swiss agrochemicals company Syngenta, and 1507 maize -- jointly developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a unit of DuPont Co and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds.

The proposals, authored by the European Commission's environment unit, would grant a standard 10-year license for the two maize varieties -- and also be the EU's first authorizations for genetically modified crop cultivation since 1998.

But to achieve that, the experts' committee would have to reach a consensus deal under the EU's weighted country voting system; highly unlikely, officials say, since the bloc's 27 member states hardly ever agree on biotechnology issues.

"The written procedures have gone through," the Commission official said, referring to the Commission's internal steps for endorsing legal proposals.

The draft authorizations were likely to be discussed by national experts next month, the official said.

The committee is next scheduled to meet on February 16.

(Reporting by Jeremy Smith)