Brussels, 19/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - There was division among EU agriculture ministers on Tuesday 19 December on amendments to labelling rules for organic foodstuffs, even though the Finnish Presidency tried hard to lead the Council to a “general approach” to make it easier to find a compromise early next year. Dissention focused mainly on the accidental presence of GMOs. The Presidency's test banned the use of GMOs in organic production (as is the case today). In the event of accidental GMO contamination (after checks), the draft regulation retains the current ceiling of 0.9% GMOs in the product for labelling of foodstuffs (the issue of the ceiling in seeds will be dealt with later by the Commission). Italy, Austria, Greece, Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic all criticised this approach, calling for the implementation of a lower ceiling. On the other side, the European Commission, along with Spain, the United Kingdom, Cyprus and Sweden, protested that a lower ceiling would lead to additional costs for producers of organic products. The draft regulation does not cover catering establishments, as the Commission wants. Several countries (Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Portugal and Luxemburg) called on the contrary that this sector be covered. In addition, Germany opposed the text providing for a compulsory EU logo for products containing at least 95% organic products. (lc)