EU Mulls Approval of More GMO Products

European Union environment experts are to discuss the approval of two more genetically modified products in June, following a decision by the European Commission taken a few weeks ago to lift a five-year moratorium on genetically modified products. On May 19, the European Commission gave the go-ahead to corn known as Bt-11, which is made by Swiss agrochemicals company Syngenta. The EU executive took the decision after member states failed to agree among themselves about whether or not to lift the ban. If authorized, the two next products -- both marketed by Monsanto -- would be used in animal feed and industrial processing, reported Reuters. The first product up for approval is rapeseed modified to resist the herbicide glyphosate, a highly toxic herbicide used to kill crop weeds. Monsanto’s trade name for this is Roundup. Later in June, EU environment ministers will discuss a possible second GMO approval at a meeting scheduled for June 28 in Luxembourg. (EUobserver.com)