Shortly after the GMO Panel published its opinion on the renewal of Bt maize MON810, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Europe published a joint report criticizing the opinion as 'woefully inadequate.'
MON863 produces a Bt toxin against corn root worm and other Coleoptera. It was granted approval for feed/food imports into the EU in 2005/06. On 16 July 2008, Austria invoked the safeguard clause (Article 23) of Directive 2001/18 to ban the import of MON863 maize.