May 26, 2005

US biotech corn intercepted in Ireland

A US shipment of animal feed that contained genetically modified corn banned in the European Union has been seized at the Irish ports.

According to EU Commission spokesman Philip Tod, US officials tested the shipment for Bt10 corn before it left, and reportedly informed the local authorities before the ship arrived in Ireland.

About 290 tests for Bt10 have been conducted on EU-bound shipments, but this was the first time a test turned up positive, Tod said.

The cargo would be offloaded and stored, pending a decision on its disposal, the commission said. Irish authorities would carry out a risk assessment of the other feed materials on the boat.

The EU's six-year ban on biotech foods in general ended in May 2004 when the European Commission approved a new corn developed by Swiss agrochemicals company Syngenta.

But a ban against Bt10 remains in place. The EU says it contains a gene that can make that strain of corn resistant to ampicillin, a commonly used antibiotic.

EU rules require the commission to prevent unauthorised genetically modified products from entering Europe.