The European Union.

The European Union has won an extension until the middle of January to end its ban on imports of genetically modified (GMO) food. The EU now has until January 11 to comply with the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling from last November in the case which pitted the EU against the United States and other biotech crop producers. It had been due to lift the ban by Nov. 21 after losing a dispute at the WTO to the United States, Argentina and Canada. Brussels has had difficulty in implementing the WTO ruling because some of its member states are operating their own bans. According to Prensa Latina, EU commercial authorities said the acceptance of the consumption of transgenic food is fraught with difficulties, because of the distrust of European consumers. Until next year, companies, such as U.S. chemical products enterprises Du Pont and Dow Chemical and Swiss Syngenta will have to wait for the prohibition to be lifted.