EU environment ministers have voted for a compromise deal that will allow individual member states to ban GMO crops if they wish.<br /><br />Those in favour of GMO – or Genetically Modified Organisms – can go ahead with planting them under certain conditions.<br /><br />The agreement struck in Luxembourg comes after nearly four years of negotiation.<br /><br />The draft text will now be reviewed by MEPs at their next plenary session.<br /><br />Seven EU countries have already introduced their own ban.<br /><br />A six-year, EU-wide ban on GMOs was lifted in 2004 by the European Commission, which insisted on strict traceability and labelling rules.<br /><br />The US and Canada have previously challenged the bloc at the World Trade Organisation over its reluctance to import and sell such products, arguing it was a barrier to free trade.
