eu court of justice ruling regarding pollen derived from gmos in october 2011 argentina stated that on 6 september 2011 the european court of justice ecj had adopted a new interpretation of the scope of ec regulation no. 1829 2003 considering pollen derived from gm crops as an ingredient of honey and not a natural component. this was in conflict with the codex standard for honey. the ruling resulted in legal uncertainty which lead european importers to interrupt purchases of honey produced in argentina pending the implementation of the ruling to the detriment of the very small scale beekeepers and regional economies that depended on this activity. argentina requested the european union to promptly take all necessary measures to remove the uncertainty caused by the ecj judgment and to ensure that implementation of the ecj judgment did not restrict honey imports. canada mexico paraguay the united states and uruguay shared the concerns of argentina. mexico expressed its appreciation for having been invited for further discussions in brussels on the implementation of the ecj decision. brazil emphasized that the eu policy regarding gmos was trade restrictive and observed that it faced similar problems concerning red beans. the european union observed that honey containing gm pollen had previously been considered to be outside the scope of the relevant legislation. following the ruling gm pollen in honey must be explicitly authorized before entering the eu market and imported honey products which contained gmos that were not authorized for use in pollen would not be allowed. even though the specific gm cro in this case mon 810 had been authorized in the european union for more than ten years it had not been authorized for uses which included pollen. the european union was taking steps to fill the existing regulatory gaps until efsa provided an opinion on the safety of the mon 810 pollen in honey and was considering how to ensure the proper implementation of the ruling without unnecessarily disrupting the supply of honey to eu consumers. it would be holding open dialogues with its member states all interested third countries and other stakeholders. in june 2013 argentina reiterated its concern regarding the ecj ruling of september 2011 that defined pollen as an ingredient of honey while codex and the eu directive 2001 110 ec considered pollen as a natural component of honey. in light of this new definition honey that contained gmo-derived pollen was subject to a pre-authorisation process and should be labelled in order to be marketed throughout the european union. the european commissions proposal to modify directive 2001 110 ec on honey was being discussed in the eu parliament and the council. argentina stressed that the implementation of the ecj ruling should be based on scientific evidence be the least trade restrictive as possible and be consistent with the wto sps agreement. the united states shared argentinas concern and noted that the ecj ruling posed a potential barrier to trade. the united states therefore encouraged the european commission to act expeditiously on its intention to amend council directive 1002 110 ec to clarify that pollen was a natural constituent of honey as stated by codex and not an ingredient. the united states also encouraged the standing committee on the food chain and animal health scfcah to vote at the earliest opportunity to authorise the application to include pollen. the european union reported that the proposal to amend the honey directive was working its way through the legislative process. according to this proposal pollen would be considered as a natural constituent of honey and as such would not need to be mentioned in the list of ingredients. nevertheless the eu gmo legislation would continue to apply and the presence of authorised gmo pollen in honey should continue to be labelled if it exceeded the threshold of 0.9 of the total amount of honey.