BRUSSELS-EU regulators are likely to
approve imports of a genetically modified (GM) maize type this
month that should help livestock farmers secure extra supply
of raw material to feed their animals, officials 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.
The expected EU approval comes after farm ministers fell
short of a consensus agreement at a meeting in February to allow imports of five
separate GM products, one of which was GA21 maize, paving the way for default
approval by legal rubberstamp.
EU law allows for rubberstamp GM authorizations when
ministers cannot agree after a certain time. Since 2004, the European
Commission, the EU executive, has approved a string of GMs - nearly all maize -
in this way, outraging green groups. "GA21 maize is at its final stage of
adoption by the Commission. It is expected to be adopted by the end of March," a
Commission official said. No date has yet been set for EU approval of the other
GMs discussed at the February meeting.
EU approval of insect-resistant GA21 maize is of particular
interest to grain traders in Spain and Portugal, since the modified strain may
only now be imported in processed form.
The request for EU approval by Syngenta, one of the world's
largest producers of GMO seeds, would allow GA21 imports as grain. When
authorised, those imports are expected to come into EU markets mainly from
Argentina, a major GMO crop grower.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel told farm
ministers at their meeting that she was surprised at their lack of decision on
approving GA21 maize since it would have helped the livestock sector, especially
pig farmers, to secure import of feed material at reasonable prices from South
America.
Animal feed makers and livestock farmers say they have been unable to pass on
soaring costs of grain over the past year to retail consumers. Costs of imported
grain, on which Spain and Portugal depend heavily, have also been heightened by
freight charges that have risen with oil prices.
