The pending approval for commercial release of a genetically modified potatoe, which has been developed by Amylogene, Sweden, now taken over by BASF, Germany, would be the first EU approval for cultivation of a GMO since 1998.

Brazil's biosafety commission, CTNBio, was unable to reach a consensus Wednesday regarding technical studies on transgenic cotton and corn seeds from Bayer CropScience, Monsanto (MON) and Syngenta Seeds (SYT), a CTNBio spokeswoman said Thursday. CTNBio meets monthly and is responsible for accepting field tests on genetically modified crops. The group's scientists conduct independent studies and analysis on whether the biotech product is harmful to the environment or human consumption. Final commercial approval depends on political and economic decisions made by a consensus of various government departments.

The European Union has now ruled that all long grain rice imports from the United States must now be tested for illegal genetically modified material before they are allowed to enter Europe.

Mexico has moved to ban experimental fields of genetically modified (GM) maize. But the gateway into Mexico of transgenic maize, in the form of unlabeled grain imports, remains ajar.

The pending approval for commercial release of a genetically modified potatoe, which has been developed by Amylogene, Sweden, now taken over by BASF, Germany, would be the first EU approval for cultivation of a GMO since 1998. A proposal of the EU Commission is expected very soon.

The Council of Latio has adopted, with only two abstentions and no votes against, a law which prohibits the growing of GMOs in the region as well as their sale in kindergartens, schools, hospitals and other public catering places.

EuropeanCommission is going to send a formal letter to the Polish authorities tonotify them that the law on genetically modified organisms (GMO) doesnot comply with EU requirements. The law prohibits cultivation and tradein GMOs. Polish government has two months to send an explanation. Shouldit fail to amend the law on time, Poland could be facing a Court ofJustice trial and a sizeable fine.

The European Commission decided today to re-submit to the EU Council of Ministers proposals to lift the ban imposed by Austria on the marketing of two authorised genetically modified maize varieties, MON810 and T25. Austria introduced these bans under Directive 90/220/EEC in 1999 and 2000 respectively. The Council can either adopt or reject the proposals with a qualified majority.

The European Union is set to introduce mandatory tests of rice imports from the United States following the finding of an unauthorised GMO strain in recentweeks, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

The WTO has ruled that the EU's GM food ban was illegal, but has failed to uphold some of the charges levelled by the US, Canada and Argentina.

The 1,000-page final report, which was made public last week, reiterated the dispute panel verdict that the European Union's six-year moratorium on imports of genetically modified food and crops was illegal.