MEPs ready to allow GM food in shops

The EU will start moves today to admit genetically modified products to Europe, when MEPs vote on consumer protection and labelling laws.

Today's decision by the European Parliament is likely to break four years of deadlock during which six countries blocked licences for GM products, arguing that consumer laws must be in place first.

If the vote goes as expected, consumers could see new GM products - clearly marked - on supermarket shelves next year. But it remains to be seen whether today's decision will be enough to defuse the fierce trade row between the EU and the US, which claims that its GM products are being unfairly excluded from Europe.

The legislation would mean that all products containing 0.9 per cent or more GM material would have to be labelled. A threshold of 0.5 per cent would be applied to products approved elsewhere, but which had not yet passed all EU tests. A system would be put in place to trace products to their original source.

The laws are designed to overcome opposition from France, Italy, Greece, Austria, Luxembourg and Denmark to gene-altered foods. Since 1998 they have made clear that new rules on labelling, traceability and liability are essential if they are to abandon an unofficial moratorium.

Eighteen licences were granted before the de facto ban came into place, while 20 applications to plant modified tomatoes, maize, beets and other commercial crops are on hold. Thirteen more EU licences have been granted for food only, with 10 pending.

The European Commission says that when the new legislation is in place it will press hard to clear the backlog of applications. It fears Europe could lose a case against the US at the World Trade Organisation.

The legislation leaves one crucial problem unresolved. Under a compromise, nation states are likely to get the right to set their own rules on laws to prevent cross-contamination from GM crops. French scientists claim genes from commercial sugar beet have been found in wild plants more than one mile from crops.

MEPs were haggling last night over the extent to which bulk shipment of GM products should be traced, a detail which threatened to delay or derail the package. Nevertheless there was widespread support for the legislation.