Brussels, 8 January 2025 — On January 7, 2025, the Polish EU Presidency released a new compromise proposal on the deregulation of plants genetically engineered through gene-editing techniques like CRISPR-Cas. The goal is to finally secure a majority in the Council of Ministers after the European Parliament adopted its position in February 2024. The compromise proposal builds on an earlier one issued by the Belgian EU Presidency in February 2024.
The Polish Presidency focuses only on the contentious issue of plant patents [1]. It overlooks other important points, such as the need for consumer labelling, traceability, and risk assessment [2].
The proposal introduces additional conditions for the market placement of GM seeds categorised as “New Genomic Techniques Category 1” (NGT1), which are protected by one or more product or process patents that result in a specific characteristic (trait):
- Labelling: NGT1 seeds protected by a patent must be labelled as either ‘patent
protected’ or ‘patent pending’ to distinguish them from non-patented NGT1
seeds. - Opt-out: Member States have the option to adopt measures restricting or
prohibiting the cultivation of patented NGT1 plants in all or part of their territory.
Franziska Achterberg, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Save Our Seeds:
The Polish proposal does little to address the significant regulatory gaps created by this draft law. If passed, this compromise would make it difficult for farmers and food producers — including those in the organic sector — to produce the GMO-free food that consumers want. The environment and our health would remain vulnerable to the potential risks posed by these engineered plants.
Until recently, Poland was part of a blocking minority that opposed deregulating the
latest generation of GM plants. The Tusk government had insisted that all GM food and
feed products be labelled.
The Polish government seems to have forgotten the importance of maintaining consumer trust and protecting GMO-free agricultural production in the EU. We call on the new EU Presidency to uphold minimum safety standards, transparency, and fairness for farmers.
Background:
Under current regulations, developers of GMOs, including NGT plants, must provide detailed information, safety studies, reference materials, and a detection test to have their products authorised in the EU. Authorisation is contingent on a risk assessment, and GMOs must be traceable throughout the food chain, with final products labelled as containing GMOs. Once authorised, individual countries or regions can ban GMO cultivation within their territories.
However, under the proposed rules, including Poland’s amendments, safety checks and detection tests would no longer be required, and final products would not need to be labelled as containing GMOs. EU countries or regions could still ban cultivation unless these GM seeds qualify as conventional-like and are not patented.
At the end of 2023, the newly elected Polish government stated, “Labelling of products is essential to ensure traceability, keep consumer trust by providing sufficient information and the freedom of choice for consumers.” The government added, “The exclusion of category 1 NGT plants of organic farming can only be guaranteed, if not only seeds and propagating material, but also food and feed products are labelled.”
Contact: Franziska Achterberg, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Save Our Seeds, +32 498 362403,
Save Our Seeds is a campaign run by the Foundation on Future Farming. Since 2002, it has successfully spearheaded efforts to avoid GMO contamination of seeds and maintain precautionary GMO legislation at national and EU levels. Current campaigns also include efforts to Stop Gene Drives.
Notes to Editors:
[1] During a ministerial debate on 10 December 2024, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, France, Greece,
Malta and Romania raised the patent issue.
[2] For example, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Romania have explicitly asked for consumer
labelling of NGT plants, whereas Denmark, Sweden and others are opposed. See Council document 12514/24 ADD 1 and Council document 12514/24 ADD 2.
Photo © European Union — Czesław SIEKIERSKI (Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Poland) and István NAGY (Minister for Agriculture, Hungary) in December 2024