Loosening of GM contamination rules on the cards

The European Commission has drafted a proposal to end the EU's zero tolerance policy toward imports of animal feed contaminated by trace amounts of certain unauthorised genetically modified (GM) material.

Under the current system, animal feed in which any trace at all of unauthorised GM material is detected must be returned to the country it came from. The commission says that differences in testing regimes between laboratories lead to legal uncertainty for economic operators and potential disruption to trade.