UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's government was cited as conditionally approving on Tuesday the commercial cultivation of a type of genetically modified corn. 

Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett was cited as saying that after three-year long trials the government approved - in principle - the growing of the herbicide-tolerant corn and that she did not think the crop would be grown commercially in Britain until the Spring of 2005 at the earliest. 

Beckett was further cited as saying licenses to grow the genetically modified corn would expire in October 2006, and those holding a license to grow the corn would have to carry out scientific analysis during cultivation in order to renew planting rights. 

Spain is the only EU country to plant significant amounts of biotech crops, with 32,000 hectares of biotech corn last year, up a third from 2002. 

The announcement came as the British Medical Association was cited as saying GM foods were highly unlikely to be damaging to health, but more research and surveillance was needed to allay public concerns and provide convincing evidence of the benefits of growing GM crops. 

Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, called on the government to change its mind, adding, "Tony Blair must not ignore the threat GM poses to our food, farming and the environment."

Environmental group Greenpeace was quoted as saying, "There are thousands of people ready to fight this decision in the fields, the streets, the courts and the supermarkets."