US officials have slammed Brussels for putting Europe's livestock industry at risk by letting political considerations override scientific arguments in favour of genetically modified crops.

The data comes as Europe's feed industry is preparing to issue a revised report on the costs of a go-slow on US soybean imports to Europe following the discovery of GM contamination, Agrimoney.com has learned.

A briefing drawn up by 20 US foreign staff from around Europe said that Brussels was continuing to "wrestle with a regulatory structure that is subject to political decision-making rather than being based solely on sound science".

The European Commission's reluctance to approve GM crops beyond an insect-resistant brand of Monsanto corn, which is currently awaiting 10-year reauthorisation, had placed the region's livestock farmers "under constant threat" of losing access to imported oilseeds.

Europe's livestock farmers rely on foreign shipments for 80% of vegetable protein needs, according to the European Feed Manufacturers' Federation (Fefac).

GM retreat 

The report from the US – a major grower and exporter of GM crops – comes amid an apparent retreat of the technology in Europe.

Plantings of GM crops – principally Monsanto's insect-resistant 810 corn variety - dropped to 86,300 hectares this year among current EU states from a peak of nearly 200,000 hectares three years ago.

The reversal had been caused in the main by Romania's accession to the EU, which had prevented it continuing to grow GM soybeans which Brussels has not approved, but also reflected reduced plantings in France, which banned the Monsanto corn last year.

Although Brussels has taken some action against national bans, 12 member states, led by Austria and the Netherlands, have voted in favour of crystallising domestically power over GM decisions.

Shipping troubles

Meanwhile, shipment hold-ups after traces of an unauthorised GM corn variety were found in US soybean cargoes to Germany and Spain have prompted Fefac to campaign for Brussels to take a lighter touch on the technology.

The commission currently imposes zero-tolerance on traces of unapproved GM crops, which has left shippers reluctant to carry US soybeans for fear of further contamination being detected and cargoes being rejected.

Fefac, which in July pegged the cost of the shipping slowdown at E20 per tonne of soybeans in the form of a "risk premium", was on Tuesday discussing a further statement on costs of the furore.

Key meeting

A European Commission spokesman said that Europe did have a system for approving GM crops, based on "strict" criteria, with many varieties approved on an import-only basis beyond the one Monsanto corn approved for growing.

"The system does work, although maybe not as quickly as some people would like," he said.

He added that the Commission was aware of the livestock industry's concerns, which was why the issue of vegetable protein imports bad been placed on a meeting of European agriculture ministers next month.