By a large majority, the European Parliament voted to let EU members decide whether to allow genetically modified crops to be grown on their land, says BBC News. Until now, decisions on GE crops were made for the bloc as a whole. Only one GM crop, a Monsanto corn variety, is grown commercially in Europe at present and it accounts for 1.6 percent of EU production.
GE crops are “one of the toughest issues at the EU-US talks on a free trade deal, as farming patterns in Europe – including GM use – differ greatly from North America,” said BBC.
Under the new law, said BBC, nations will have more leeway to ban a GM variety, including protection of an ecosystem or to protect conventional crops from contamination. Green groups said country-by-country regulation opens the way for seed companies to find regions where GM crops are welcome on the continent. Britain, Spain and Sweden were among countries that supported the change in EU rules.
Two out of three Americans say in a national opinion poll that they support labeling of genetically modified foods, said Associated Press, which sponsored the survey. A much smaller segment, four out of 10, said the presence of GM ingredients was very or extremely important.