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Ukraine in recent years has been actively discouraging GMOs, with as a result that the proportion of such products has been steadily decreasing: in 2007 about 50% of products in the Ukraine market contained a GMO, while in 2008 this number had reduced to 8%. Now in the Ukraine only 5% of all products contain GMOs, said Vladimir Semenovich, director of Ukrainian experimental food research center at a recent press conference. [...] U.S. and Canada strongly oppose the new definition because effect of the new rule would reduce the export of products with a share of less than 0.9% GMO in Ukraine from these countries by 90%.

French Agricultural Minister Bruno Le Maire imposed Friday a temporary ban on a genetically modified strain of maize made by US company Monsanto "to protect the environment". The French agriculture ministry said in a statement that the Monsanto maize strain MON 810 had been banned as a "precautionary measure". France's top administrative court in November overturned a government order banning French farmers from planting genetically modified crops from Monsanto. However, President Nicolas Sarkozy swiftly pledged to seek new legal measures after the French ruling as well as a similar decision by the European Court of Justice.

European Union ministers are unlikely to agree draft rules to let countries decide themselves whether to grow or ban genetically modified crops, despite efforts by Denmark’s EU presidency to reach a compromise. [...] ”Things are still looking extremely difficult,” Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken, who will lead the discussions, told Reuters by telephone on Thursday. ”We have a small blocking minority at the moment, but we still hope that we will dissolve it, and it’s going to come down to one or two countries in the end.” While France, Germany and Belgium are unlikely to reverse their opposition, Britain and Spain had initially appeared willing to support the Danish compromise, EU sources involved in the talks said.

Environmentalists demonstrated outside Poland’s parliament building on Tuesday before the first reading of an amended law on GM seeds on Wednesday. Last August, President Bronislaw Komorowski vetoed a bill that had been criticised for letting genetically modified crops in through the back door. The August bill had been prepared after a 2006 law banning GM crops in Poland was referred to the EU Court of Justice for failing to comply with EU policy.

Insecticidal Bt toxins such as those produced in genetically engineered plants can be detrimental to human cells. This is a result of recent research led by researchers at the University of Caen (France). Their experiments showed that toxins produced in, for example, the genetically engineered maize MON810, can significantly impact the viability of human cells. The effects were observed with relatively high concentrations of the toxins, nevertheless there is cause for concern. For the first time, experiments have now shown that they can have an toxic effect to human cells.

Monsanto Co. and other seed makers reported a threefold increase last year in U.S. farmers caught violating requirements for planting genetically modified corn. The data relates to farmers planting seeds that are genetically modified to produce a toxin derived from Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, a natural insecticide. The Environmental Protection Agency requires the growers to plant an adjacent area - a so-called refuge - of non-Bt corn so that bugs don’t become immune. About 41 percent of 3,053 farmers inspected in 2011 failed to fully comply with the refuge requirement

Non-GMO Project Verified has become the fastest growing food eco-label in North America, as sales of certified products hit $1bn in 2011, according to findings unveiled at Organic Monitor’s Sustainable Foods Summit in San Francisco last month. The $1bn figure is from SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the Natural Products Industry. However, it does not include foods sold at Whole Foods or Walmart, so is likely to underestimate the total sales figure by a wide margin – especially considering that Whole Foods’ 365 private label range is Non-GMO certified.

Biotech companies should be allowed to grow genetically modified crops in some EU countries if they agree to avoid sales into the countries that want to ban them, a draft compromise proposal drawn up by Danish EU diplomats shows. The compromise is designed to break a deadlock in talks among member states on draft EU rules to allow them to decide individually whether or not to ban GM cultivation - a proposal by the European Commission in 2010 that has made little headway so far.

U.S. biotech firm Monsanto said on Tuesday it does not plan to sell its genetically modified maize MON810 in France this year, nor after, even though the country’s highest court overturned a 3-year ban in November. “Monsanto considers that favorable conditions for the sale of the MON810 in France in 2012 and beyond are not in place,” the company said in a statement, adding that it had told the French authorities about its intentions.

The French government said on Friday it would uphold its ban on a strain of genetically modified maize developed by U.S. biotech firm Monsanto in 2012, even though France’s highest court overturned the moratorium last year. The ecology and agriculture ministers said in a statement they would maintain the ban on MON810, an insect-resistant strain of maize which is sold in several European countries, after meeting with farming groups.