Seventy activists from six European countries blocked warehouses on the docks of Ravenna to keep GM soya from being loaded from the depots for transport around the country.

"Ravenna is the principal point of entry for genetically modified crops into Italy and we are hereby declaring Ravenna's port an anti-GM zone," said Greenpeace activist Federica Ferrario.

The group strung banners across the port denouncing GM crops.

"We want to put an end to the import of all genetically modified soya into Italy," said Ferrario.

On Sunday four Greenpeace activists boarded an Argentinian cargo ship off the port of Chioggia, near Venice, to keep the boat from unloading its cargo of 40,000 tonnes of GM soya.

The activists said they would have to be forced off the boat.

Italy imports some 4.2 million tonnes of soya a year for animal feed and for use in its processed food industry.

Half of the soya imports enter the country through the port of Ravenna and, according to Greenpeace, more than three million tonnes of it is genetically modified.

TERRA.WIRE