As reported by the Reuters news agency, both countries on Thursday exercised their right to an opt-out of efforts by controversial GMO giant Monsanto Corporation to spread their patented products in all European Union countries.
Latvia and Greece opted out of Monsanto's attempt to grow its 'MON810' crop.
In response Monsanto accused the countries of "deviating from a science-based approach to innovation in agriculture" and were prohibiting the crop "on arbitrary political grounds" Reuters reported.
GMOs are commonplace in the United States but much less popular in Europe where suspicion remains that they may prove to be unsafe in the long term and that the idea of 'copyrighted crops' is viewed negatively.
The very different attitudes to GMOs are one of the key issues dividing US/EU efforts to negotiate a major free trade agreemen
There is deep suspicion of Monsanto and other GMO companies in Latvia where small-scale farms are keen to preserve their reputation and in many cases certification for ecological and environmentally-friendly farming.
Monsanto's reputation for pursuing claims against farmers in the courts, even if they find Monsanto-owned crops growing on their land against their will, also causes fear.
