It’s all very well choosing not to eat genetically modified (GM) food, or even banning it entirely, but what if you then rear your cows on GM soya? Can you really maintain a consistent moral objection?

This is the dilemma many European countries are faced with now the EU has proposed measures that will further de-harmonise rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The latest proposal would allow member states to “opt-out” from the use of GM food and animal feed, thereby mirroring legislation passed earlier this year that allowed members to opt-out from GM cultivation.

The official aim is to allow member states to impose restrictions on GM food and feed “in respect of democratic choice and in the interest of consistency”. But countries expecting to pick and choose from different GMOs, whether crops, food or feed, will find their freedom heavily constrained.

Any GM restrictions must still comply with EU law. This firstly requires that any measures be necessary to protect a “relevant legitimate objective”. Worries over the environment or public health don’t count – in theory these are dealt with under the initial authorisation process. This leaves objectives such as public morality, consumer protection or agricultural policy (preventing contamination between GM and non-GM crops, or having to change farms to use for GM crops). Even then, there must still be no arbitrary discrimination or disguised protectionism.

An Italo-Irish headache

Consider the example of Ireland and Italy: two green, agricultural nations who may shortly be faced with serious headaches. Both have mixed feelings regarding GMOs and both have interests in prohibiting certain products, but crucially not all.

In particular, a substantial proportion of animal feed used in both Italy and Ireland is of GM origin. A 2010 report indicated that more than 90% of protein feed for livestock in Ireland contained EU-authorised GM varieties – mostly soya, maize, cotton and rapeseed.

As imported feed is vital to keep Ireland’s cows and sheep well fed, and since it’s tough to guarantee zero contamination by GM sources, the country supported an amendment to EU legislation allowing for temporary tolerances of unauthorised GM feed at a level of 0.1%. Even if they would avoid GM feed in neutral circumstances, the market has created a high level of dependency by national producers on GM feed.