Green lobby condemns GM rules for organics

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The move by EU agriculture ministers meeting in Luxembourg was welcomed by the European Commission as clarifying for consumers what qualified as "organic" produce.

But Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace said it amounted to authorising "genetic contamination" of organic food.

European MPs and campaigners wanted to limit the "GM-free" label to organic food with no more than 0.1 per cent GM contamination - the lowest level at which it can be scientifically detected.

But the ministers decided the higher ceiling was acceptable for the "accidental or technically unavoidable" presence of approved GMOs. EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said the deal would help consumers recognise organic produce more easily.

But Helen Holder, from Friends of the Earth Europe, said it opened the door for more GM content in organic food - because "accidental or technically unavoidable" contamination would be interpreted as meaning "acceptable".