BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) – The European Commission has finalized draft legislation that would allow up to 0.1 percent of unapproved genetically modified material in imports of animal feed to the European Union, the bloc’s executive said last week.
The draft rules, which must now be approved by EU member states and lawmakers, are designed to avoid a repeat of last year’s disruption to EU animal feed supplies, when American soybean cargoes were blocked after traces of unapproved GM material were found.
Last week, Spain received its first bulk corn cargo from the United States in at least 12 years, which traders said could be an early sign that imports of U.S. corn to Europe will resume once the new rules are in place.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
But EU officials said that while the 0.1 percent limit would have enabled some soybean shipments blocked last year to enter the EU, the level of GM contamination in some cases meant the proposed solution would not have solved all the problems.
The proposals introduce new harmonized rules for EU customs authorities testing grain cargoes, which would require them to approve feed for import provided the concentration of any unapproved GM material discovered is below 0.1 percent.
The limit will apply only to GMOs that have been approved in the exporting country and for which an EU approval is pending.
But the bloc’s zero tolerance policy on unapproved GMOs in food imports will remain, despite warnings from exporting nations including the U.S., Brazil and Argentina that different rules for food and feed are unworkable.
Similar concerns were raised by some commission departments during the drafting of the rules, and a clause has been added on the possible need to review the rules in the future to see whether they should also cover food imports, EU officials said.
The decision to exclude food from the new rules was taken after several countries, including Germany, made it clear they would not support any relaxation of the zero tolerance policy on food.
Environmentalists have said the EU should maintain a strict zero tolerance policy on unapproved GM material in both feed and food, and accused the commission of caving in to pressure from exporting countries.
The draft rules must get majority approval in a vote by EU government experts.
EU ministers and lawmakers would then have three months to accept or reject the draft rules entirely, meaning the earliest they could enter force is around April next year, though EU officials said it would likely take six months or longer.
