Brussels : Denmark and Italy will argue next week that Europe needs a special task force to help EU countries decide how their farmers should separate different crop types, particularly biotech, officials said yesterday.

As two of the EU's traditional opponents of biotech foods, Rome and Copenhagen have repeatedly called for EU-wide rules to enforce how countries should segregate conventional, organic and genetically modified (GM) crops: an issue known as coexistence.

Farm ministers meeting

But the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, says national governments should be responsible for this themselves and create laws based on guidelines issued by Brussels last year. Denmark is one of the few countries to have done so.

In the absence of common EU rules on the issue, Denmark and Italy will ask farm ministers meeting next week to agree the need for a task force to help countries deal with coexistence.

Denmark, in a note from its EU delegation to be read out at next week's meeting, said it had asked the Commission in June to create a unit to collect and disseminate information to EU states, and identify GM research requirements.

"A large number of member states have said they are in favour of setting up such a unit at Community (EU) level," said the note, which is also endorsed by Italy.

"Denmark is looking forward to seeing the initiative put into practice. Denmark considers it vital that common rules for coexistence be laid down," it said.

EU diplomats said Denmark would win backing from at least 10 countries next week, when Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler will attend his last meeting of EU farm ministers after 10 years as Europe's farm chief.