"Farming and producing more sustainably is not a scientific problem – it’s a regulatory problem"

Euroseeds reports that 20 large organizations in the agricultural and food industry express their support of the Commission's proposal on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), emphasizing its urgency due to challenges like climate change. The organizations advocate for transparency and freedom of choice by creating public registers with information on NGT varieties. This allows value chains to organize themselves based on their preferences.

They also acknowledge the difficulty in detecting and identifying NGT plants, making it challenging for market control and consumer trust, arguing that labelling information that does not distinguish between NGT and conventional plants is of limited value to consumers. Additionally, imposing traceability and labelling obligations solely on EU farmers would harm the competitiveness of food produced in the EU while benefiting farmers from other countries.

Read the full article and the co-signed value chain letter here: euroseeds.com

The EU Commission is to debate the legislation and use of NGT's (techniques that alter the genome of an organism). This after a study shows their potential to contribute to sustainable food systems and a need to review current policies.

The Commission will now start a wide and open consultation process to discuss the design of a new legal framework for these biotechnologies. [...] In the coming months, an impact assessment, including a public consultation, will be carried out to explore policy options concerning the regulation of plants derived from certain NGTs.

Read the full pressrelease here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_1985