The New York Times reported Friday that the European Union (EU) looks set to disapprove planting of two separate types of biotech corn made by DuPont’s Pioneer seed division, Dow Agro and Syngenta.

In a draft of the decision obtained by the New York Times, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the biotech corn produced by Dow and Pioneer could inflict potentially “irreversible” damage on the environment.

The draft decision also said the biotech corn produced by Syngenta, when fed to butterfly larvae, causes them to “act differently.” A spokesperson for Dimas added that the European Union is well within its rights to reject the biotech corn on the so-called “precautionary principle.”

The Times article said the EU hasn’t approved any new biotech crops for planting since 1998. But it hasn’t specifically rejected any approval applications either to this point, instead relying on an unofficial moratorium on new biotech approvals.

Ironically, the European Food Safety Authority ruled the corn hybrids in question are safe for humans, animals and the environment back in 2005. What’s more, the European Union has approved the corn hybrids for import. So European livestock producers can feed the biotech corn, but European row crop farmers won’t be able to grow it if the decision goes as expected.

There is precedent for such an approach. European farmers are banned from growing Glyphosate-tolerant soybeans. But the EU imports the biotech soybeans for use in animal feed and to process into oil.

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