The European Commission was foiled Monday in its bid to force France and Greece to allow genetically modified maize from US biotech giant Monsanto to be grown in their fields.
Food chain experts from the EU member states, meeting in Brussels, could not reach agreement on whether to back or oppose the French and Greek refusal to allow the maize, which has been given the green light to be grown in Europe.
The standing committee on food chain and animal health "failed to reach a qualified majority in favour or against," the commission said in a statement.
Nine of the 27 EU nations supported the commission call for the ban to be lifted while 16 opposed it or abstained. Germany and Malta did not take part, a source at the meeting said.
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Monsanto's MON810 strain is the only genetically modified crop approved in the European Union but last year France suspended its cultivation, invoking a "safeguard clause".
Greece used the same legal provision in 2006 and has extended it since then.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has said the maize is safe and there is no scientific evidence to justify the bans.
