A new directive on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) approved by the European Parliament last week will allow the "deliberate release" of GM crops into the environment. It also paves the way for their commercial production in the EU.
"It's showing there's more confidence in the safety of these products," Dr Patrick O'Reilly, business manager of Monsanto Ireland, said.
Monsanto, one of the biggest global GM food corporations, is testing GM sugar beet in trials in the Republic. This crop is destroyed at harvest time.
The directive tightens controls on GMO products and imposes strict rules for granting GMO licences. Six EU states, including France but excluding Ireland, have indicated they will block GMO applications until traceability and labelling rules are significantly improved.
The directive includes mandatory labelling, but only on live GMOs such as the micro-organisms in yoghurts. There is still no obligation to label products made with GMO ingredients, such as sugar or starch.
Some Monsanto applications are intended for Ireland, such as GM sugar beet and blight-resistant potato seeds, Dr O'Reilly confirmed. If approved "they would be on the market quite soon".
Environmental groups here have expressed concern at the EU directive. Father Sean McDonagh of Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment (VOICE), said: "The European Commission is basically pushing the agenda of big business."
He added: "The EU's precautionary principle is absolute on CJD, why is it not absolute on genetically engineered foods?" VOICE has joined the Green Party in calling on the Government to use opt-out provisions in the directive to declare Ireland a GMO-free State. GMOs may be prohibited in specified regions to protect ecosystems, environments or geographical areas.
Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna said declaring Ireland a GMO-free State "would increase the demand for Irish products and preserve Ireland's environment from contamination". Green Party spokeswoman Ms Mary White said Ireland had an opportunity to be "at the forefront of safe food production" by banning genetically engineered crops.
She said all a company needed to do now was apply to the Department of Agriculture for permission to plant commercial GE crops. "It is clear that without a specific national ban being in place in Ireland, protection for the Irish public is compromised."
Approval of the new directive defies a recent warning from a prominent panel of scientists. The Royal Society of Canada called for far more caution in approving GM crops that could pose "serious risks to human health, of extensive, irremediable disruption for the natural ecosystems or of serious diminution of biodiversity".
It also said a basic testing standard used by EU countries in licensing was inadequate in protecting public health and should be abandoned immediately.