WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, the European Commission approved some genetically modified (GMO) crops and related products new for import and use in the European Union’s (EU) 27 member countries.

One such approval was for food, feed and processing of grain corn and derived products with certain HERCULEX insect protection and herbicide-resistant traits. HERCULEX is a joint venture of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a subsidiary of DuPont, and Mycogen Seeds, the retail seed arm of Dow AgroSciences.

Another approval was for YieldGard Corn Borer and Roundup Ready Corn 2 traits, both developed by Monsanto Co. The Commission also approved a Roundup Ready sugar beet trait developed by Monsanto and KWS SAAT AG, based in Germany. According to press releases from each company, these products will no longer be sold under the Market Choices certification, which did mark them as non-EU products.

These four approvals – also known as events – are unusual to happen all at once, said Mike Henney, deputy director for the New Technologies and Product Methods Division of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Office of Scientific and Technical Affairs. The Commission has approved few GMO events since 1998 – perhaps a dozen, he estimated, usually at the rate of one or two a year.

“Europe is a very complex entity,” he explained of the EU, pointing out it is 27 countries each with their own culture and beliefs, trying to merge into one entity. The Commission, which is independent of national governments, has a representative from each country and acts as the EU’s day-to-day policies manager, among other roles. “They’re approving things, just very slowly,” Henney added.

In 1998, he said the Commission imposed a “soft” moratorium, where it still accepted applications to market GMO crops, products and seeds in EU countries but was not approving many, or often. In 2006, he said the World Trade Organization ruled on a United States complaint that the Commission needed to ensure its approval regulatory system was allowed to function as intended. “A lot of people think (GMO) is banned in Europe,” Henney said, “but they do have a dozen events approved for feed and food use.”

In fact, he said the U.S. has the most GMO approved events, followed by Argentina. Canada and Brazil also have approved events.

None of the above-detailed four Oct. 24 events are approved for cultivation at this time, according to GMO Compass, a database compiled by independent science journalists. Each approval is good for 10 years.