On Friday 14 March, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) reached a qualified majority on an EU Council negotiating mandate regarding the regulation of plants obtained through new genomic techniques (NGTs).
The EU countries opposing the Council’s position were Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Romania and Slovakia. Germany and Bulgaria abstained. Among the hesitant countries, Belgium and Greece voted in favour of the mandate (see EUROPE 13596/5).
The Polish presidency of the EU Council, which successfully presented a compromise text amending the initial proposal, will soon be able to begin negotiations with the European Parliament on how NGTs will be used.
The proposal provides for two types of NGT plants:
- Category 1 NGTs that can be obtained by conventional breeding methods: they would be exempt from the rules set out in GMO legislation and would not be labelled as such. However, seeds produced using these techniques would be labelled;
- Category 2 NGTs obtained by these techniques: they would be subject to GMO legislation (risk assessment and authorisation before being placed on the market) and would be labelled as such.
The Council is proposing a number of changes to its negotiating mandate compared with the European Commission’s proposal:
- Member States may decide to ban the cultivation of category 2 NGT plants in their territory;
- Member States may take measures to prevent the unintentional presence of category 2 NGT plants in other products and will have to take measures to prevent cross-border contamination;
- In order to prevent the unintentional presence of category 1 NGT plants in organic farming on their territory, Member States can adopt measures, particularly in areas with specific geographical conditions (Mediterranean island countries and island regions);
- When applying for registration of a category 1 plant, companies or breeders must provide information on all existing or pending patents. Information on patents must be included in a publicly accessible database created by the European Commission, which lists all NGT plants that have been granted category 1 status;
- On a voluntary basis, companies can inform the patent holder of their intention to grant a licence for the use of a patented NGT 1 plant or product, subject to conditions.
The Council’s mandate provides for the creation of an expert group on the effect of patents on NGT plants, composed of experts from all Member States and the European Patent Office.
According to the Council’s mandate, one year after the regulation comes into force, the Commission must publish a study on the impact of patenting on innovation, on the availability of seeds for farmers and on the competitiveness of the EU plant breeding sector. The study will also look at how breeders can gain access to patented NGT plants. Where appropriate, the Commission will indicate the necessary follow-up measures or publish a legislative proposal to address any issues raised in the study. If the first study does not provide for follow-up measures or a new legislative proposal, the Commission will have to publish a second study four to six years after publication of the first.
Labelling. Category 2 NGT plants must carry a label designating them as such, in accordance with the Commission’s proposal.
The Council proposes that, if information on modified traits is included on the label, it should cover all relevant traits (for example, if a plant is both gluten-free and drought-tolerant due to genomic modifications, the label should mention either both traits or neither).
The Council’s negotiating mandate stipulates that tolerance to herbicides cannot be one of the traits for category 1 NGT plants. This is to ensure that these plants remain subject to the authorisation, traceability and monitoring requirements applicable to category 2 NGT plants.
EU farming organisations have generally welcomed the Council’s common position, while some NGOs, such as Friends of the Earth Europe, believe that the mandate calls into question “the fundamental precautionary principle“ that underpins European policy-making. Mute Schimpf, from this NGO, believes that “it’s a dark day for consumers, farmers and the environment. EU governments have voted on the side of a handful of big corporations’ profits”.
Read the EU Council’s position: https://aeur.eu/f/fy5 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)