Monsanto Co on Tuesday hailed a decision by the European Union to allow the import of food products made with the company's genetically modified corn, but said it was not expected to significantly boost the company's bottom line any time soon.
"I think this decision is an indication that the EU is willing to look at products through the regulatory process they have instituted," said Monsanto spokeswoman Lori Fisher. But "it's too early to tell whether the moratorium is truly over. It will be over when all pending products move through the new EU process to a decision point without undue delay."
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said Tuesday it had issued an approval for a corn known as NK603, which tolerates applications of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide.
The "Roundup Ready" corn is used in products such as starch and oil and in animal feed.
Tuesday's approval is the EU's second after the 25-nation bloc restarted new GMO authorizations in mid-May following a longstanding moratorium on new biotech imports that had angered the United States.
It approved the sale of a canned biotech corn made by Monsanto rival Syngenta earlier this year.
Fisher said the commission's decision marked the first time Monsanto technology has been granted full approval since before the moratorium was implemented in the EU five years ago.
The company has a separate application currently under review by Spain as the lead member state that would allow planting of the NK603, but no decision is expected this year, said Fisher.
Fisher said that the ruling should not have a significant impact on plantings of Roundup Ready corn in the United States because only a small portion of the US corn crop is exported to the EU.
According to Monsanto, acreage planted with Roundup Ready corn grew to 16 million acres planted in the United States in 2004, up from 12 million acres in 2003.
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