Green groups applauded an October 25 call from Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas for an EU-wide ban on two varieties of genetically modified (GM) corn. The proposal is based on allegedly clear scientific evidence that cultivation of the two crops would cause environmental harm.

The crops in question, Syngenta’s Bt11 and Pioneer Dow’s 1507, are engineered to produce a Bt toxin that is poisonous to certain pests; but study results have raised fears that the crops are toxic to certain butterfly species and could cause long-term soil damage. Other published studies show that effects from GM Bt corn could prove even more widespread and unpredictable, which is why green groups are arguing that the EU’s existing risk-evaluation procedure for such agricultural products is inadequate.3g/km.