New York, Apr 24 (EFE).- A senior U.S. trade representative said here Friday he is “greatly disappointed” by a European Union proposal that would allow individual EU countries to ban imported genetically modified food and animal feed even if the 28-nation bloc as a whole has approved them.

Speaking at the close of the ninth round of negotiations on a proposed U.S.-EU trade deal, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and two days after the European Commission – the EU’s executive arm – unveiled the proposal, Dan Mullaney, the assistant United States trade representative for Europe and the Middle East, said the plan was contradictory.

“It’s hard to square the proposal with either the EU’s existing international obligations or their aspirations for a seamless internal market,” Mullaney said after the latest round of talks, which was held in New York.

Under the proposal, individual EU countries would need to show that national measures banning imports of GM crops are necessary to protect a “relevant legitimate objective” apart from worries over human or animal health or the environment, since the EC takes those concerns into account when deciding whether to approve each product.

In 2010, more than 1 million Europeans signed a petition calling for a moratorium on GM crops and the creation of a new independent scientific body that would be tasked with analyzing their impact. EFE