Friends of the Earth today urged the European Commission to reject an application to allow genetically modified (GM) sweetcorn to be imported into Europe after EU Agriculture Ministers failed to reach a decision. The deadlock was caused by member states disagreeing about the long-term safety of the food and the quality of the testing carried out. The application was supported by the UK Government.

Today's vote in Luxembourg failed to reach a "qualified majority" in favour of approving the application by Swiss-based biotech firm Syngenta. The "Bt11" maize has been modified to include a pesticide. The final decision now rests with the European Commission, which has already threatened to use its legal powers to force the GM sweetcorn onto the market. If GM maize is allowed into Europe it will mark the end of Europe's de facto moratorium on the licensing of new GM food and crops.

Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner Clare Oxborrow said:

"All eyes will now be on the European Commission. Either it can force the GM sweetcorn onto the European market, knowing that there are unanswered questions about its safety, or it must reject it outright. Time and time again European consumers have stated their opposition to GM food. It is time for the Commission toput the safety of consumers ahead of the interests of the biotech industry and refuse to allow GM sweetcorn to be imported into Europe."

Friends of the Earth has raised serious question marks about the safety studies carried out on the maize and the process the Commission is using to force it through. In particular:

The French government's food safety authority (AFSSA) concluded that "unforeseen effects cannot be discounted" and stated that further safety tests needed to be conducted before making conclusions on its safety for human consumption. Another report by the Austrian Government gave a damning verdict to Bt11, concluding that the whole plant was not tested, the assumptions made by the biotech company were false and the safety of Bt 11 is based on theoretical argument rather than evidence.

Bt11 maize is being pushed through the old Novel Food Regulations even though new laws improving the approval process became applicable last week. The new regulations require, for example, a post-approval safety monitoring plan.

A briefing - Ten reasons not to approve Bt11 - can be found at: www.foeeurope.org/GMOs