UPDATE 1-Germany's BASF takes GM potato case to EU court

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FRANKFURT, July 24 (Reuters) - BASF (BASF.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has taken legal action against the European Commission for unjustifiably delaying the approval process for its genetically modified Amflora potato, the German chemicals company said on Thursday.

BASF said in a statement it filed the action with the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg after a 12-year process.

"EU commissioners have postponed Amflora's approval despite repeated positive safety assessments by EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority," said Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's executive board.

Marcinowski said the company was "not prepared to accept any further delays".

Amflora is engineered to yield high amounts of starch, eliminating the viscous gel-like substance amylose so it contains only one starch ingredient: amylopectin.

It is not intended for human consumption but rather for industrial use such as in the paper industry to make glossy magazine coatings, in textiles for yarn sizing and as an additive in adhesive or sprayable concrete.

If approval is given, it would be the EU's first authorisation of a genetically modified product for cultivation in a decade. Only one GMO crop may be grown commercially in the EU, a maize made by U.S. agricultural products company Monsanto (MON.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and approved in 1998.

"We are filing this case in order to ensure that European farmers and starch producers get access to an innovative product that offers them a potential added value of more than 100 million euros annually," said Hans Kast, chief executive of BASF Plant Science, a unit of BASF.