US trade officials and farm groups have roundly condemned a new plan by the European Commission to allow individual member states to block the import of EU-approved genetically modified crops. “It is hard to square this proposal with either the EU’s existing international obligations or their aspirations for a seamless internal market,” said Dan Mullaney, the assistant US trade representative for Europe and the Middle East. The EU plan mirrors a new rule that gives member states the authority to ban the cultivation of EU-approved GM crops. The new proposal, combined with that enacted rule, means that the EU would have “a consistent set of rules” for GM authorisations for cultivation and for food and feed, allowing member states’ individual concerns to be taken into account in both of these areas, the Commission says.
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