Austria and Hungary win right to ban GM maize

EU governments have upheld Austrian and Hungarian bans on growing genetically modified (GM) maize varieties made by Monsanto and Bayer, heightening the risk of US trade retaliation.

Austria and Hungary are allowed to prohibit the cultivation of Monsanto's MON810 maize type and Austria can ban planting of Bayer's T25 maize, EU environment ministers decided on Monday.

The EU approved cultivation of the products in 1998, prompting Austria and Hungary to opt out of the bloc's common market rules because of safety concerns.

The European Commission, the EU's regulatory arm, says the bans are unjustified because scientists have determined the two products are safe for consumers and the environment.

The commission tried unsuccessfully to end the planting curbs, marking the third failure since mid-2005 against Austria and the second defeat since 2007 against Hungary.

"Member states voted against our proposal," commission environment spokesperson Barbara Helfferich said after the ministerial verdict in Brussels.

The support for the cultivation restrictions comes in the face of World Trade Organisation (WTO) demands for market opening.

The commission under president Jose Barroso is seeking to expand the European biotech crop market over the resistance of half or more of the EU's countries.

Surveys show opposition to such foods by European consumers, who worry about risks such as human resistance to antibiotics and the development of "superweeds" that are impervious to herbicides.

The $7.5 billion (R76 billion) global biotech crop market includes foods ranging from maize to soybeans in which genetic material has been altered to add beneficial traits such as resistance to weed-killing chemicals.

Monsanto's MON810 maize is insect resistant and Bayer's T25 maize is herbicide resistant.

The EU ended a six-year moratorium on new gene-altered products in 2004 after tightening labelling rules and creating a food agency to screen applications. In a case brought by the US, Canada and Argentina, the WTO ruled in 2006 that the EU ban running from 1998 to 2004 was illegal.

The US has voiced concern about continued European market barriers, which include a slow-track procedure for new authorisations as well as bans in some member states on approved products. Under WTO rules, the US has the right to seek retaliatory measures.

In a process that can delay decisions for months, national authorities throughout the EU have a say over approvals because the bloc's common-market rules require that a product sold in one member state be allowed for sale in the others.

After slowing the authorisation process opponents can invoke a "safeguard" clause in EU law to prevent an approved product from being sold or grown on their territory, fragmenting the European market. - Bloomberg