Agriculture ministers must vote on GM maize

EU agriculture ministers must vote within three months on whether to allow imports of Herculex RW, a genetically modified strain of maize.

The decision will be extra difficult for Ireland’s minister, Mary Coughlan, who is under pressure from Fianna Fáil’s Green Party colleagues in government, including her junior minister, Trevor Sargent.

The European Green Party is urging member states to vote against the authorisation, claiming there are “serious and legitimate health concerns about the GM maize”.