EU eases biotech food ban

The European Commission will next Wednesday ease a six-year-old biotech food ban and take a step toward defusing a trans-Atlantic trade clash by allowing the import of a Syngenta AG gene-modified sweet-corn variety.

The EU move will chip away at a 1998 moratorium blocking about 30 genetically altered food applications by companies that also include Bayer AG and Monsanto Co., the world’s biggest developer of the crops.

Global biotech crop sales amounted to as much as $4.75 billion last year, according to an industry-funded group.