The European Commission warned three EU governments yesterday to bring their national laws on genetically modified (GMO) foods into line with EU law or face legal action at Europe's highest court.

France, Germany and Greece were told to integrate a key 2001 law into their national statute books as soon as possible. This should have been done by October 2002.

The law, known as the Deliberate Release directive, is perhaps the most important of EU laws that regulate the cultivation, import and use of GMO foods and crops in the 25-nation bloc. It specifically lays down rules for GMO growing.

"This law is at the centre of the EU's GMO legislation and aims to ensure that only authorised GMOs are placed on the market and that unsafe GMOs cannot be marketed in the EU," the Commission said in a statement.

The warnings are the next stage in a process that could see the three governments hauled before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EU's top court, which can set heavy fines if the countries persistently ignore warnings to adapt their laws.

The ECJ has already told all three countries to integrate the directive into their national legislation. It told France and Germany to do so in July 2004 and Greece in January 2005.