THE European Parliament has voted by 480 votes to 159 to make it easier for Member States to ban the growing of GM crops.

It means Member States will have the ability to decide whether or not to allow farmers to plant a particular GMO or groups of GMOs even when they have passed a rigorous safety test and been given EU-wide regulatory approval.

The new rules are expected to be adopted this Spring.

The main elements will mean:

o Member States can restrict or prohibit the cultivation of any approved GMO or group of GMOs defined by crop or trait

o Bans can be justified using a list of grounds including environmental policy; town and country planning; land use; socio-economic impacts; avoidance of GMO presence in other products; agricultural policy; or public policy

o Mandatory coexistence measures must be put in place in border areas of Member States in which GMOs are grown to avoid cross-border contamination into those where cultivation is prohibited, unless the geographical conditions render such measures unnecessary

o The Commission will report on ‘the actual remediation of environmental damages due to the cultivation of GMOs in Member States’ within four years.

Paul Brannen MEP, Labour's European spokesperson on agriculture, said: "These new measures are welcome news for those who care about the environment, as they will provide better safeguards against unwanted influence of agribusiness or biotech companies by weakening their role in the authorisation process for new GMOs.

"Labour MEPs supported this deal because it introduces new rules on environmental impact assessment and coexistence measures which will contribute to better management of different crops throughout the EU, responding to environmental concerns.

"This should also be good news for the fast growing, environmentally friendly and job-generating organic sector which cannot afford to be contaminated by GM crops."

However, the NFU said that, at this stage, it was difficult to know what the impact would be on the UK or on British farmers.

But it believed that by approving the new rules, the European Parliament had supported an unscientific and unacceptable approach to regulation. It would send anti-technology signals to the rest of the world, threaten the single market and was against World Trade Organisation principles.

The NFU said: "We are concerned that the resulting legal uncertainties may further discourage seed companies from investing in UK-relevant crop biotechnology, putting our farmers at a disadvantage.

"It seems that these new rules are all about restricting agricultural innovation and limiting competitiveness rather than enabling more European farmers to benefit from biotechnology any time soon."

In the UK, Environment Secretary Liz Truss has said she would like more flexibility to make GM crops available for farmers, but ministers in Scotland and Wales have both said they will remain GM free.