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Some 400 hectares of maize have been destroyed throughout Hungary after the crops were found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, the deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development in charge of supervision of the food supply chain and agricultural administration told MTI on Friday. [...] Authorities have been checking for GMO crops since the beginning of this year as a new regulation came in force this March which stipulates GMO checks before seeds are introduced to the market. The checks will continue despite the fact that seed traders are obliged to make sure that their products are GMO free, Bognar said.

Greenpeace EU agriculture policy adviser Stefanie Hundsdorfer said: “The European Parliament today added real punch to draft laws to protect our farms and food. But let’s not forget that GM contamination doesn’t respect borders. National bans are no substitute for thorough safety testing at a European level, something the EU is failing to do so far. We and a growing majority of the public remain seriously concerned about unanswered health and environmental questions around GM crops. Ecological farming is the correct response to the challenges of food security, climate change and long-term productivity.”

Consumers International and its member organisations celebrated victory today as regulators from more than 100 countries agreed on long overdue guidance on the labelling of genetically modified food. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, made up of the world’s food safety regulatory agencies, has been labouring for two decades to come up with consensus guidance on this topic. In a striking reversal of their previous position, on Tuesday, during the annual Codex summit in Geneva, the US delegation dropped its opposition to the GM labelling guidance document, allowing it to move forward and become an official Codex text.

Genetically modified rice has been spreading illegally for years in China, officials have admitted, triggering a debate on a sensitive aspect of the food security plan in the world’s most populous nation. [...] In January, the agriculture ministry said ”no genetically modified cereals are being grown in China” outside the test sites. But in April, an environment ministry official told the weekly Nanfang Zhoumo that a joint investigation by four government departments had found that ”illegal GM seeds are present in several provinces because of weak management”.

French retailer CARREFOUR has launched a new label "Nourri sans OGM" ("fed without GMOs"), which will be displayed on 300 different animal-based products, including pork, veal, poultry, eggs and farmed fish.

The company said studies found 63% of customers would stop consuming food products if they knew the products came from animals fed with GMOs.

Eu Commissioner John Dalli proposes to accept in feed imports to the EU up to 0,1% of GMOs, which have not been approved in the Union. For food imports a zero tolerance was to remain in place. The proposal has been criticised by exporting countries as well as environmental watchdogs within the EU.

Greenpeace and Avaaz have announced that over 1 million EU citizens have signed their European Citizens Initiative for a gmo free Europe and requested a formal hand over to Commission president Manuel Barroso.

A growing number of European countries are challenging the European Commission’s decision to authorise the cultivation of BASF’s antibiotic-resistance genetically modified (GM) potato, said Greenpeace. France and Poland have announced that they are joining Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg in a legal challenge to the European Court of Justice.

Italy's regional farming heads agreed unanimously on Thursday to urge the agriculture minister to ban cultivation of genetically modified maize and potatoes, their coordinator on GM policy told Reuters. Italy has de facto banned cultivation of GM crops pending approval of rules on their co-existence with traditional crops. Public opinion in the country is strongly opposed to GM crops, which are seen as less healthy.

At a meeting of EU farm ministers in Brussels on Monday, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain all expressed grave doubts over the viability of the plan, and questioned its conformity with the bloc’s internal market rules. ”I don’t think that we can expect a compromise or a consensus over the next couple of months -- a great deal more work is going to have to be done,” Belgian agriculture minister Sabine Laruelle, who chaired the meeting, said afterwards.