WTO Calls EU Ban on Biotech Foods Improper

The WTO has ruled that the European Union broke international trade rules by barring imports of genetically modified foods, officials said.

The preliminary judgment by a World Trade Organization panel concluded that the EU had in effect banned biotech foods for six years, from 1998, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The report sides with a legal complaint brought by the United States, Canada and Argentina over an EU moratorium on approval of new biotech foods, the officials said. The panel ruled that individual bans in six EU member states -- Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg -- also violated international trade rules.