Calls for mandatory risk assessment intensify

The EU agriculture ministers did not approve the proposal to deregulate plants derived from new genetic engineering (New GE, also new genomic techniques, NGT) at their meeting on 11 December. The Spanish EU Council Presidency put the regulatory proposal to the vote with only minor amendments. If approved, the Commission proposal would allow the release and marketing of genetically engineered plants, e. g. plants altered with CRISPR/Cas gene scissors, without prior mandatory risk assessment. Several agriculture ministers very clearly disagreed with the proposal, and demanded that the risks must be examined on a case-by-case basis before any approval is granted.