Monsanto Co. said the European Union will consider importing so-called triple-stack corn grown from the company’s most profitable seed.

The European Commission proposed that the European Council of Ministers authorize imports of three types of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn. If the council fails to approve the products within three months, they still may be approved by the commission, spokesman Lee Quarles said.

The European Council of Ministers also will consider allowing imports of a corn hybrid that resists rootworm and corn borer insects and one engineered to protect against rootworms and Roundup herbicide, Quarles said. The council won’t be considering whether to allow cultivation of the Monsanto seeds.

Triple-stack corn, which has three modifications to protect against two types of insects and Roundup herbicide, will account for at least half of Monsanto’s U.S. corn-seed sales in 2008, up from 42 percent, the Creve Coeur-based company said in October.

Monsanto said in November it will double profit by 2012 on U.S. sales of new, more profitable seeds and gains in sales outside the U.S.

“Our success rests squarely on the shoulders of triple-stack penetra­tion,” Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant said on an Oct. 10 call with analysts.

Adding a percentage point of corn-seed market share boosts Monsanto’s profit by about $7 million in the European Union and $40 million in the U.S., where the market is bigger and gene modifications make the seeds more valuable, Monsanto said.

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