November 4, 2005

EU allows GM corn's import for feed
 

The European Commission (EC) said it has authorised a GM corn known as 1507 to be imported as animal feed. 1507 was jointly developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont Co., and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds.

This decision marked the fifth new GMO approval since the EU ended its informal biotech ban in 2004.

1507 was modified to resist certain insects and herbicides, and its authorisation was valid across EU member countries for 10 years.

The EC said detailed post-marketing regulations would ensure the product could be traced and monitored when put on the market. This included clear labelling to indicate its presence as well as a unique identifier assigned to the corn to enable its traceability.

EU member countries have had difficulties agreeing on the use of GM crops. A legal default process came into effect allowing the commission to make a rubberstamp approval when individual member states were unable to agree among themselves after three months.