EU postpones action on Italy's transgenic maize ban
BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A European Union committee on Thursday
delayed a decision on whether Italy was right to ban four types of
genetically modified (GM) maize which have approval for use
throughout the EU. The committee -- made up of representatives from
the EU's 15 governments -- was due to form an opinion on the issue
which could have led to the EU forcing Italy to lift its ban. The
civil servants agreed to wait until the EU's executive Commission
comes forward with new proposals on how GM products should be
marketed before they take their decision. "It was thought it would be
better to wait until we have proposed our general strategy on
labelling and traceability," Commission spokeswoman Beate Gminder
told Reuters.
The Commission is due to present its proposals in the coming weeks,
Gminder added. Last month an EU scientific committee said there were
no scientific grounds for the ban Italy imposed in August on the
products made by Monsanto , AgrEvo and Novartis . Italy banned the
products, citing a clause in EU law on GM foods that allows countries
to take precautionary action if they consider human health is at
risk. But the scientific committee said Italy had failed to provide
evidence the maize varieties might pose a risk to health, a position
contested by the Italian government.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.