As expected, the plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) has voted, by a margin of 577 to 75, to reject the European Commission’s plans to allow member states to opt out of commercializing genetically modified crops.

The vote followed a recommendation of the Parliament’s Environment committee (ENVI), which in mid-October by a vote of 47 to 3 with 5 abstentions turned thumbs down on the Commission’s plan.

Giovanni La Via, Italian MEP from the EP’s Conservative group, called the plenary session’s decision a “clear signal to the Commission” that its opt-out proposal would reverse all efforts made earlier to achieve a single European market and a customs union.

Social Democratic MEP Susanna Melchior called on the Commission to introduce new proposals for the import of animal feed.

Since March of this year, the 28 member states have had the right to opt out of GM crops approved for planting throughout the EU. The legislation rejected by the Parliament would apply to import and sale.

To date, 19 countries or autonomous regions have announced plans to fully or partially opt out of cultivation, including Austria, Belgium’s Wallonia region and all UK countries except England, along with Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia.