Following the adoption of new rules last month allowing each member state to decide whether to allow genetically modified crops on their soil after they are authorised at EU level, the European Commission is now expected to propose similar regulations on imported GM feed.

While the draft regulation was originally due on 22 April, a group of farming and agri-business organisations have said in an open letter that they now expect the Commission to present the proposal at its next meeting on 15 April.

The signatories, which include the European federation of farmers' unions Copa-Cogeca, urged Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to "reject any attempt to renationalize EU market authorisations of genetically modified crops for feed and food use".

Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen argued in the letter that letting each country decide whether GM feed could be imported would "severely jeopardize the internal market for food and feed products, leading to significant job losses and lower investment in the agri-food chain in 'opt-out' countries" and "cause severe distortions of competition".

According to the biotech industry lobby group EuropaBio, another signatory of the open letter, the EU imports 72% of its protein feed - most of it from the US, Argentina and Brazil, where genetically modified soybean is the norm.

But a number of European countries led by France have opposed the use of GM feed, leading to disagreement at EU level. The Commission is now keen on reverting the decision to the national level, much like it did with crops.

Juncker promised to review GM regulations when he took office last July. He told the European Parliament his aim was to "give the majority view of democratically elected governments at least the same weight as scientific advice".

Environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Europe, too, have issued an open letter to oppose national-level decision on GM feed.

"Such an attempt to shift the responsibility for GM crops from the EU to the national level would not make the EU any more democratic. The Commission would still be able to authorise GM crops against the majority view of the Council, the Parliament and the people of Europe," they wrote, arguing that the proposal would be "fraught with practical and legal problems".