Unauthorised circulation of the genetically modified maize Bt10 (Extract from: Preparation Agriculture/Fisheries Council of April 2005)

Brussels, 25 April 2005

Commissioner Kyprianou will update Ministers on developments, including the Joint Research Centre’s work to check the validated detection method for Bt10 provided by Syngenta and the Commissioner’s discussions last week with his counterparts in the United States.

The European Commission adopted on 18 April an emergency measure requiring imports of GM maize products (corn gluten feed and brewers grain) from the US to be accompanied by an analytical report from an accredited laboratory demonstrating, using a reliable and validated detection method, that Bt10 is not present.

This measure, which was strongly supported by the Member States in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on 15 April, was adopted to uphold EU law and maintain consumer confidence in response to the possible presence of the unauthorised GMO Bt10 in imports of these products from the United States.

Item source: MEMO/05/140 Date: 25/04/2005 Previous Item Back to Titles Print Item