Some GM crops legal in the U.K.

Genetically modified crops can reportedly be grown in Britain without farmers having to notify the government or their neighbors, the Guardian reported Monday.

The London newspaper said a loophole in British law allows some GM crops to be legally grown by farmers applying to the biotech company Monsanto for a sample pack of GM maize to test on a British farm.

Government officials say the loophole exists because a number of varieties were approved for cultivation in the European Union in 1998, before public concern led governments to reconsider policies.

Government officials told the Guardian there are no regulations preventing British farmers growing GM crops approved for cultivation elsewhere in the European Union because "it seems unlikely that anyone would want to do so."

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