18/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - Endorsing the view of its rapporteur, Friedrich Graefe zu Baringdorf (Greens, Germany), the EP first amended the proposal for a directive on additives in animal feedingstuffs but then sent it back to committee. During the vote, Parliament, which is not consulted, called for a change of legal basis (replacement of Article 37 by Article 152, on protection of public health, and involving codecision) and the introduction of specific labelling for genetically modified organisms, but Commissioner David Byrne rejected these amendments (on the one hand, the question of labelling must be settled in another text; on the other, the EP Committee on Legal Affairs recognised the validity of Article 37 and contested the choice of Article 152, he said). The plenary consequently decided to refer the text back to the relevant committee.