EU: no extra checks on US biotech corn

The EU head office raised the alarm in April 2005 after discovering that
animal feed imported from the United States containing the Bt10 had
made its way to EU countries between 2001 and 2004. Syngenta, the company
responsible for developing the strain acknowledged it had accidentally sold Bt10
to US farmers and the EU imposed a ban on US corn gluten imports suspected of
containing the strain. The move forced US exporters to certify that their corn
was free of the biotech
variety.

Overreaction
Washington called the EU
measure an overreaction and said the biotech product was neither a health nor an
environmental hazard. European nations, however, have been particularly wary of
allowing the marketing of genetically modified food and animal feed following an
array of food scandals over the past decade.