EU Parliament adopts new NGT rules for GE plants
EU Parliament has voted to adopt new rules granting use of gene edited plants that are climate and pest resistant to support food security while requiring fewer pesticides.
As Jessica Polfjärd, (EPP, SE) rapporteur on Plants, said “Today, Europe has taken a historic decision... for too long we have asked farmers to address todays challenges with yesterday's technologies”
The new EU rules will shift to regulating plants on their genetic composition, rather than the process used to create them. This change has been brought about due to the potential for gene editing to produce products without the introduction of genetics from outside the species - mirroring conventional breeding approaches.1
NGT groups
The new EU rules split regulation of EU cultivate or imported products into one of two "New Genomic Techniques" (NGT) groups:
- NGT-1: Products with a limited number of changes (under 20 base pairs and 20 mutations) that could have occurred through conventional breeding. Products verified to meet this criteria will be regulated closely to conventionally-bred plants (expanded on below). Herbicide-tolerant plants or those producing insecticidal substances cannot be considered NGT-1 plants.
- NGT-2: Products with more substantial genetic changes (over the 20 base pair and mutation limit) and / or including the insertion of genetic material from sexually compatible species. These products would be regulated under GMO rules and will be subject to a risk assessment.
Plant varieties listed as NGT-1 will be included in a public EU database. All seed bags and reproductive material will be labelled. The regulation makes it mandatory to monitor the sustainability impacts of these plants, to encourage development of these products towards sustainability goals.
NGT-1 plants will not be allowed in organic production, but accidental mixing of NGT-1 plants in organic areas will not be treated at non-compliance.
NGT-2 plants will maintain full labelling and traceability, and may be prohibited or restricted by individual EU countries.
A full press conference can be found here
Further reading
- New genomic techniques for plants to boost innovation in sustainable agriculture
- Vote on New Genomic Techniques a Step Forward for EU Agriculture
- European Parliament greenlights new generation of GMOs
Such as selection, crossing, hybridisation with sexually compatible plants and mutation breeding (such as through mutagenesis)↩