Austria allowed to keep its GM corn ban
Environment ministers threw out a European Commission proposal to force Austria to cancel the bans it imposed on two authorized GM maize varieties in 1999 and 2000. However, Austria retained its right to ban the growing of bio-engineered corn.
They had rejected the move in 2004 but Brussels hoped that a World Trade
Organisation ruling this year that the ban was illegal would tip the argument in
its favour and retabled the proposal.
However, in a sign of how sensitive the
issue remains for European consumers, only the UK, Netherlands, Czech Republic
and Sweden among the EU’s 25 member states backed it. “The Commission will now
have to carefully consider the legal and scientific bases that would support any
further proposals,” a spokeswoman said. It may now have to
legislate.
Another case against Hungary will almost certainly be rejected
by ministers next month. Greece also bans genetically modified
crops.
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