Germany has told the European Union it will ban cultivation of crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), under new European Union rules allowing member states to opt out of GMO cultivation, a document seen by Reuters showed on Wednesday.

German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt has informed the EU Commission that Germany will not permit GMO cultivation on its territory, a letter from Germany's Agriculture Ministry to the Commission seen by Reuters shows.

An EU law approved in March cleared the way for new GMO crops to be approved after years of deadlock. But the law also gave individual countries the right to ban GMO crops even after they have been approved as safe by the European Commission.

Under the new EU rules, countries must by Oct. 3, 2015, inform the EU Commission if they wish to opt out of new EU GMO cultivation approvals.