European farm ministers failed to agree Thursday on three new applications for the marketing of genetically-modified corn and cotton, diplomatic sources said.
Bids to authorise the placing on the single European market of products containing a mix of separate Monsanto maize strains; renew another from Pioneer/Mycogen Seeds and add a Bayer CropScience cotton strain go back to the European Commission for approval after ministers meeting in Brussels were divided right down the middle.
The three applications have each already been cleared by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Europe has got itself into a bind on GM foods, with two crops currently authorised -- a maize strain for animal feed and a potato for paper-making -- but decisions on a lengthening list of other products are in deadlock.
Some states have unilaterally banned GM food production, leading to attacks from the biotechnology industry and a senior US trade official that the EU is breaching World Trade Organization rules.
