The European Union has postponed a vote on whether to allow imports of a type of genetically modified maize made by US biotech giant Monsanto.


“It is a postponement because several member states wanted more clarification. There will be another meeting when they have more information,” an official at the European Commission was quoted by Reuters as saying. “There wasn’t a formal vote and not enough for or against.”


EU environment experts were meeting to vote on Monsanto’s application, but failed to reach a decision on the MON 863 maize. Once a vote is taken, a qualified majority is needed to either approve or reject an application. If the voting is too close, the application could pass to ministers, who would then have three months to agree before passing the decision back to the European Commission.


Monsanto’s application for MON 863 maize is for use as animal feed, rather than for cultivation or human food, reported Reuters.


The EU has already ended its unofficial ban on GM foods with the approval of another type of GM maize.

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