BIOVEGEN positively values the approval of the NGT crop proposal in the EU Environment Commission

On January 24, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) of the European Parliament voted in favor (47 votes in favor, 31 against, 4 abstentions) of the legislative proposal of the European Commission on New Genomic Techniques (NGT) in plants.

At BIOVEGEN we welcome this positive vote and consider it an iimportant progress in the agri-food sector towards the approval of the proposal (raised by the European Commission on July 5, 2023) for the adoption of new legislation in the EU for NGT plants that conveniently differentiates them from transgenic crops.

The final approval of this legislative proposal would allow progress at the European level towards a safe use of plant editing techniques in agri-food production, contributing to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides on crops, to a greater resistance facing unfavorable conditions of climate change, improve features nutritional benefits of plant-based products and increase productivity by helping to meet food demand in a sustainable and resilient way.

We believe that this legislative proposal represents a more proportionate framework than the existing one, is aligned with scientific criteria and evidence, and favors the access of public research centers and SMEs to the development of NGT varieties (reducing complexity and costs of development, authorization and commercialization).

In this context, at BIOVEGEN we consider that a step is taken in the right direction, and we remember that there are still important votes of the plenary session of Parliament and the European Council. At this point we also want to thank the work of the European Commission, the parliamentarians of the Environment Committee and the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture itself (which has promoted this proposal during the Spanish Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023) for their effort and willingness to listen to the arguments and needs of the scientific and business community in plant breeding.

All in all, the vote on January 24 brings the exciting possibility of agreeing on a legislative text during this legislature, to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Field to Fork Strategy, where NGT plants will have a key role.