UPDATE 2-EU ministers deadlocked on three GMO maize approvals

(adds details, Commission/industry quotes)

By Jeremy Smith BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - EU farm ministers fell short of a consensus agreement on Wednesday to allow imports of three genetically modified (GMO) maize types, again revealing their deep differences on GMO crops and foods, officials said.

The three biotech maize types, two of them hybrids, would be imported for processing, for all food and feed uses. They are not meant to be cultivated within the 27-country European Union.

Since the ministers failed to achieve the required majority under the EU's weighted voting system, the decision now passes to the European Commission, which should issue a rubberstamp authorisation according to EU legal procedures.

This usually means a 10-year default approval is issued within a few weeks, although EU officials said the authorisations might take a little longer this time.

"There was no change in the positions ... the authorisations revert to the Commission for a final decision," a Commission official told reporters on the margins of the meeting.

"The Commission will in the coming weeks revisit the issue and take a decision. It may take a couple of months," he said.

The first GMO maize, known commercially as Herculex RW and also by its code name 59122, is jointly made by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont Co. (DD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and Dow AgroSciences (DOW.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unit Mycogen Seeds.

Herculex is designed to protect against larval stages of corn rootworm, which eats through plant roots and so reduces yield and nutrients. It also resists the active herbicide ingredient glusofinate ammonium.