On Friday 14 March, the 27 EU member states reached an agreement on the deregulation of plants produced using new genetic engineering techniques, known as “new genomic techniques”. A qualified majority of member states backed the compromise proposal put forward by the Polish EU presidency. Many agricultural and environmental organisations had criticised the proposal.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) sees no new risks from the use of new genetic engineering techniques on animals. Its draft scientific opinion is available for comment until 19 March. Testbiotech has criticised the “wrong approach”.
In a joint statement, more than 200 organisations bringing together small-scale and organic breeders, farmers’ organisations, food retailers, and civil society groups —including Save Our Seeds — are urging the EU institutions to reject the proposed deregulation of gene-edited plants.
Deregulating new GMOs will cause problems for farmers and breeders. These problems include biopiracy, increased risk of lawsuits against farmers and breeders, administrative burden due to legal uncertainty, increased production costs, risk of losing their business, reduced seed variety and increased vulnerability to pests and diseases.
Berlin and Brussels, 23 January 2025 – A new report released today by Save Our Seeds highlights the increasing use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the development of genetically modified (GM) plants, raising significant new concerns about their safety.
The increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools is driving a profound transformation in plant genetic engineering. The report ‘When chatbots breed new varieties’ by Benno Vogel summarises the state of the art in relation to plant breeding. How should scientists and regulators deal with the emerging new challenges?
In a letter to Polish agriculture minister Siekierski, 30 organisations — including NGOs and businesses working across Europe in the areas of food and farming, and environmental protection – have protested the latest compromise proposal on GMO deregulation.
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 proposal does little to address the significant regulatory gaps created by this draft law.
A group of EU organisations have asked Polish agriculture minister Siekierski to defend the EU model of farming by making sure our EU legislation protects farmers and breeders against patented GM seeds and allows consumers to choose GMO-free food.
Berlin, 13. November 2020 — The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has published an assessment on whether the currently existing European guidelines for the risk assessment of genetically modified insects are sufficient for the risk assessment of genetically modified Gene Drive insects.