The Commission will transmit to the Council a proposal to authorise a genetically modified (GM) soybean after Member States did not endorse it today during a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH).

The Commission presented today to SCoFCAH the proposal for the authorisation of GM soybean MON89788, also known as “RoundupReady2Yield” soybean, for import and processing and food and feed uses.

The authorisation of this GM soybean is important as it will help preventing shortages in supply of the EU livestock industry with soybean imports from third countries.

Member States returned no definitive opinion, either for or against the proposal, during the SCoFCAH meeting.

The Commission tabled the proposal following an application submitted by the American food biotechnology company Monsanto and a favourable scientific assessment from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which addressed all safety concerns. EFSA concluded that there is no risk to human or animal health or to the environment.

As a result of today’s inconclusive vote, the Commission will now transmit the dossier to the Council for a decision.

If the Council does not reach a position within three months, the proposal will be sent back to the Commission for final adoption.

For more information, see: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biotechnology/index_en.htm.