According to exporters and European producers, the rules are needed to avoid disruptions to food imports, with global supply chains making it increasingly difficult to guarantee cargoes bound for Europe are free of GMOs not yet approved in the bloc.
"The European Commission has said it wants to tackle this issue before the end of this year, and we will table a proposal in the very near future," stated Frederic Vincent, commission spokesman for health and consumers.
The draft rules are likely to be proposed before the European summer break to allow enough time for EU governments and lawmakers to approve them by the end of the year, according to another official.
Last year, the bloc approved a similar law allowing up to 0.1 per cent of unapproved GMO material in animal feed imports, after several shipments from the United States were blocked at EU ports after unapproved GM material was found in some cargoes.
The problem arises because of the slow pace of GMO approvals in Europe, which create delays of up to two years between new varieties being cleared for cultivation in North and South America and getting import approval from the European Union.
As with the existing rules for feed, the proposals are expected to set a tolerance threshold of 0.1 per cent, and the GMOs in question must be approved in the exporting country with an EU authorisation request already lodged with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
All EU import approvals are granted for both food and feed uses, reflecting the integrated nature of global commodity supply chains. As a result, EU officials said it was impractical to have a GMO contamination threshold for imports of feed but not for food.
But with strong public opposition to GMOs across much of Europe, any plan to allow even tiny amounts of GM material in food could prove controversial. Environmentalists say the impact of consuming GMOs is unknown.
It is unclear whether the idea has the majority backing of EU governments that it needs to become law.
