On 5 July, the European Commission plans to adopt a legislative proposal aimed at ensuring the development and marketing of new genomic techniques (NGTs). This proposal is intended to complement the controversial proposal on the sustainable use of pesticides.
The proposal on NGTs, a provisional version of which has been leaked, provides for a notification procedure that ensures safety while guaranteeing that the requirements remain proportionate to the risk. This will enable NGT products to be developed and brought to market.
An authorisation procedure with an appropriate risk assessment for NGT plants not covered by the notification procedure “guarantees safety”, says the Commission.
NGT plants subject to authorisation would also remain subject to traceability and labelling as GMOs.
The proposal aims to maintain a high level of protection for human and animal health and the environment, in line with the precautionary principle, and to enable the development and marketing of plants and plant products that “contribute to innovation and to the objectives of the European Green Deal and the ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘biodiversity’ strategies”, according to the Commission.
The procedures for deliberate release and placing on the market “ensure that NGT plants and their food and feed are as safe as their conventional counterparts, while not creating an unnecessary regulatory burden”, says the institution.
New genomic techniques offer new possibilities for modifying the genetic material of an organism, enabling the rapid development of plant varieties that have specific characteristics. The legislation covers plants produced by targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis (including intragenesis), in addition to the food and feed derived from them.
Targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis are considered NGTs and are distinguished from established genomic techniques by introducing new characteristics. They do not introduce genetic material from a species that cannot be crossed (transgenesis), which is the case with established genomic techniques, explained the European Commission.
The Greens/EFA Group is opposed to it. According to Benoît Biteau MEP (Greens/EFA, French), who unveiled the draft text on NGTs, “the proposal on new GMOs is unacceptable”. It would be in “ total contradiction” to the proposed regulation on the restoration of nature (see EUROPE 13202/1), he told EUROPE. He fears “widespread contamination” of the environment and the food chain. A specific number of EU countries have already announced their rejection of new GMOs. “We in the European Parliament will do everything in our power to reject this proposal”, he concluded.
In a supplementary impact assessment on its proposal regarding the sustainable use of pesticides, the European Commission seeks to reassure the EU Council and MEPs (see EUROPE 13201/22).
Link to a provisional version of the NGT proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/7ju (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)