Voting on the approval of a variety of genetically modified maize in Tuesday's European Council meeting ended in deadlock, EU sources said.

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The maize, TC1507, created by Dow Pioneer and DuPont chemical, which has been engineered to produce insecticidal Bt toxin and resist applications of certain herbicides, has been the subject of much controversy in recent months. Debate over TC1507 maize was rekindled in September last year, when the General Court ruled that the EU Commission had delayed the approval process after the maize's manufacturers lodged a complaint. Pioneer initially submitted its licensing request in 2001.

Although EU health watchdog EFSA has green-lighted the maize, environmentalists opposing the approval have warned that its insect-resistant pollen could harm non-target butterflies and moths and alleged that there are still gaps in safety data on the crop.

Responsibility for approving the maize variety was passed to the Council from the Commission in November. Last month, following a debate in the European Parliament, MEPs called on the Council to reject the licensing proposal and urged fellow EU legislators not to propose or renew authorisations of any GMO variety until the bloc's risk assessment methods have been improved.

In voting on Tuesday (11th February), 19 Council-members voted against approval, five voted for and four abstained.

As, according to EU law, there was no qualified majority in the Council vote, the final decision on 1507 maize will now pass to the Commission. Last year, Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said that in this scenario he would be obliged to license the maize.

In December, however, Greenpeace suggested that a ruling by the General Court – the same body that revived TC1507's stalled approval process in September – could hamper the pending approval of the controversial maize variety. Greenpeace said that the court's decision to annul the approval of BASF's Amflora potato, which was licensed in 2010, but withdrawn from sale in 2012, could have implications for the maize's licensing bid.

Greenpeace spokesperson Marco Contiero said in December that the general Court's Ruling "demonstrates that the Commission committed the same legal errors in pushing both authorisations" of Amflora and TC1507. Ahead of the vote, a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told news agency Reuters that a unilateral approval of the maize form the Commission is far from guaranteed, given the weight of opposition from the majority of member states. Public opinion in the EU remains staunchly anti-GM.  

If the Commission does grant approval of the maize, it will only be the second crop licensed for cultivation in the EU in 16 years. Cultivation of GM crops is banned in eight EU states, though the legality of these measures has been contested.