UPDATE 4-Germany to ban cultivation of Monsanto GMO maize

* GMO maize banned for sowing for this year's crop

* Decision not fundamental obstacle to GMO crops

* Germany on conflict course with EU Commission

(Adds Monsanto statement para 8)

By Michael Hogan and Thorsten Severin

BERLIN/HAMBURG, April 14 (Reuters) - Germany will ban cultivation and sale of genetically modified (GMO) maize despite European Union rulings that the biotech grain is safe, its government said on Tuesday.

The ban affects U.S. biotech company Monsanto's (MON.N) MON 810 maize which may no longer be sown for this summer's harvest, German Agriculture and Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner told a news conference.

The move puts Germany alongside France, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Luxembourg which have banned MON 810 maize despite its approval by the EU for commercial use throughout the bloc.

"I have come to the conclusion that there is a justifiable reason to believe that genetically modified maize of the type MON 810 presents a danger to the environment," Aigner said, stressing the five other EU states have taken the same action.

The decision to ban was based on scientific factors and was not a political one, Aigner said. It was an individual case and not a fundamental decision against GMO crops, she added.

The EU Commission, the bloc's executive arm, has tried without success to get the bans in other countries lifted and on Tuesday warned it would examine the German decision.

"The Commission will analyse the ban by Germany with the adequate scientific information support and the Commission will decide on the most appropriate follow-up toward this situation," Commission spokeswoman Nathalie Charbonneau told a regular briefing.

Monsanto spokesman Andreas Thierfelder said the decision was unjustified and no supportable scientific reasons for the ban had been given. Should the ban be confirmed, Monsanto would consider legal options with the goal of enabling GMO seeds to be planted for this year's harvest.

The MON 810 maize is resistant to corn borer, a butterfly whose caterpillars damage maize plants.

Aigner said her ministry would now prepare a report into Germany's strategy on GMO crops.

Aigner, who took office in October 2008, said previously she would review approval for cultivation of GMO maize in Germany before this year's sowing took place in late April.