The World Trade Organisation (WTO) confirmed in a final ruling that the European Union broke trade rules with its six-year moratorium on approving genetically modified (GMO) foods, diplomats said today.
The 1,000-page report, which will not be officially released for some six weeks, found that the effective EU moratorium between 1998 and 2004, during which time Brussels approved no new GMO products, amounted to "undue delay" and therefore violated trade rules.
In addition it said that the six had given no scientific evidence to justify their banning GMO products - mainly maize and rapeseed - which the EU had already declared safe.
The confidential verdict, which had been widely expected, also condemned six member states - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg - for applying individual bans on a number of GMO products previously approved by the European Commission.
The WTO issued a preliminary verdict in February. But the decision, in a case brought by the United States, Canada and Argentina, the world's biggest GMO producers, did not touch on the sensitive issue of whether GMOs are safe or whether they can be considered comparable to conventional products.
As a result, European diplomats and anti-GMO activists say it will have no impact on policy in the 25-state bloc where consumers are deeply suspicious of what are often called "Frankenfoods".
The moratorium was lifted two years ago, and manufacturers have withdrawn from the market virtually all the products covered by the individual state bans with the exception of a couple in Austria.
"It is clear that the US, Canada and Argentina will not be able to use this ruling to bully other countries to accept GMOs," said Eric Gall, political advisor to environmentalist group Greenpeace in Brussels.