BIOVEGEN's initial assessment of the legislative proposal for NGT crops in the EU

On July 5, 2023, the European Commission published its legislative proposal for the «regulation of plants obtained under certain new genomic techniques (NGT)»These techniques allow inducing changes in the plant genome or introducing equivalent material, without inserting foreign DNA, which differentiates them from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO or transgenic).

These techniques allow the generation of crops that are more resistant to climate change or diseases and pests, having the potential to facilitate the development and use of NGT plants to support the green transition and sustainability.

In the words of Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Food Safety, “We want to give our farmers the tools to produce healthy and safe food, adapted to our changing climate conditions and with respect for our planet.”.

At BIOVEGEN we consider that the proposal is the result of a very worked process by the Commission, where all the actors directly involved in plant improvement have been attended to. This is an aspect to highlight and applaud.

The scientific basis takes more prominence, distinguishing two types of NGT plants, and at the same time distancing it from transgenic plants (understood as those crops that have foreign DNA inserted). In this sense, it is a proposal for a more proportionate framework than the existing one. Work still needs to be done to specify the notification and evaluation processes, which must be based on clear scientific criteria and which, with the current wording, are vulnerable to political issues.

The proposal moves in the direction of legislation based on the procurement process, to a more product-based approach. It is a focused, possible proposal in the right direction, although still insufficient. But the door is opening to advance in an area that has been blocked for more than twenty years. It is a hopeful proposal for the future, because if necessary it can be adjusted, and it reduces the politicization of decisions that occurs in decisions on GMOs.

The regulations open the door to making it easier for public research centers and SMEs to develop NGT varieties (reducing complexity and development, authorization and marketing costs).

We express our concern about the process of processing the proposal in view of the European elections in May 2024 and the delays that this may cause, which could lead to the obsolescence of the proposal before it is even approved.

The proposal creates 2 new categories of plants (NGT1, NGT2, in addition to the already existing ones - conventional or GMO-) to which different requirements and restrictions apply. In the rest of the world, verification or evaluation by authorities determines whether the varieties obtained should be considered conventional or GMO and the sector is concerned about this disharmonization.

Also of concern is the prohibition of use in organic or ecological agriculture, especially of the NGT1 category, given that they are plants that are considered equivalent to those that could have been obtained by random mutagenesis or other conventional breeding techniques; It has no scientific basis. We believe that all farmers should have the freedom to choose whether or not to use NGT plants, depending on their needs and preferences. Even more so when many organic farmers have expressed the desire to make use of “conventional type” NGT.