EU farm ministers failed to agree whether to approve a genetically modified maize made by Swiss firm Syngenta, paving the way for default approval by the European Commission, an official said.

Approval of the GMO maize type MIR604 is crucial for the resumption of imports of soybean and soymeal needed by livestock farmers, animal feed importers have said.

'There was no qualified majority for or against so it goes back to the Commission, which will decide,' the EU official said.

Genetically modified food is a sensitive issue in many European Union countries and has become a point of diplomatic tension, as EU law allows for GMO authorisation to be rubber-stamped when ministers fail to agree after a certain time.

Since 2004, the European Commission has approved a number of GM products in this way.

This summer, more than 200,000 tonnes of soybean and soymeal were refused entry to EU ports, largely in Spain, because they contained small amounts of GMO corn (maize) varieties not approved in Europe.

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