Around 30 activists from environmental group Greenpeace blocked the entrance to the office of Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka for nearly two hours to demand that Poland ban imports of genetically modified produce

Around 30 activists from environmental group Greenpeace blocked the entrance to the office of Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka for nearly two hours to demand that Poland ban imports of genetically modified produce. Some of the protesters chained themselves to the metal fencing around the prime minister's office while others unfurled a banner above the main entrance reading: "Stop GMOs before it is too late." They also hoisted a giant, inflatable clock, to signify the rapid passage of time. "We want the government to ban imports of genetically modified foodstuffs before it is too late," Polish Greenpeace activist Jacek Winiarski told AFP. The demonstrators were from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, Greenpeace said. The protest ended after around two hours, when police and the fire services unchained the demonstrators from the gates and took down the banner. Several demonstrations have been staged around Europe by Greenpeace activists in recent weeks ahead of the European Commission's authorization, expected next month, for genetically modified colza produced by US biotech giant Monsanto to be imported and processed in the European Union.