b'RESURRECTION OF PLANT BREEDING INNOVATION IN THE EU?THE EU PROPOSAL ON CERTAIN NEW GENOMIC TECHNIQUES.BY: PETRA JORASCHWHY IT MATTERS T he proposal of the EU CommissionGMO legislation do not apply. A summary was long awaited. Since 2008, dis- of the verification decision would be pub-In 2018, after a ruling of thecussions on the rules applicable tolished in a database together with an iden-European Court of Justice putnew plant breeding techniques (as theytification number for the NGT plant and the latest breeding methodswere called at the time) have been ongoing.product. Seeds of Category 1 NGT plants under the burdensome EU GMOHowever, their regulatory status was neverwould need to be labelled as Category 1 legislation, the Volume 5, Issue 3clarified by the Commission, despite lots ofNGT plants and respective information edition of European Seed requests by academia and businesses alike.would be included in the EU Common(Aug. 2018) was titled: Rest in PeaceIt was only after the European Court ofCatalogue of varieties. Category 1 NGT Plant Breeding Innovation.Justice ruling, confirming the GMO statusplants would remain subject to any regula-Since the EU proposed newof plants resulting from newer breedingtory framework that applies to convention-regulations for certain newmethods like genome editing, that politi- ally bred plants. genomic techniques (NGTs) on 5cal discussion gained speed and intensity.If NGT plants and products do not July 2023, faith in the resurrectionScientists and breeders complained, EUmeet the equivalence criteria, they would of plant breeding innovation inMember States foresaw enforcement issues,be considered Category 2 and are subject to the EU may just start to return.and an increasing number of countriesan adapted GMO risk assessment as well as The European plant breeding andaround the world took a more differentiatedGMO detection, traceability, and labelling seed production sector welcomesregulatory approach. Meanwhile, the plantsrequirements. Although Category 1 plants that the Commission proposaldeveloped with NGTs were clearly show- and products would be deemed conven-finally recognizes the need for aing their potential to successfully deal withtional-like, both categories of NGT plants differentiated regulatory approachadverse weather conditions and climateand products would not be allowed for to certain plants and products fromchange, increase resistance against pests andorganic farming. NGTs from the GMO legislation.diseases and/or carry healthy nutritionalThe regulatory approach taken by the traits. So, these plants clearly proved theirEU Commission does not exclude NGT potential to contribute to the objectives ofplants and products from the GMO leg-the European Green deal and its Farm toislation but is considered a lex specialis Fork strategy. This finally led to the policywith regard to the EU GMO legislation. initiative of the EU Commission which,It introduces specific provisions for NGT after detailed stakeholder consultations,plants and products and with this creates studies by the Joint Research Centre anda distinct product category for convention-the European Food Safety Authority, andal-like NGT plants and products, including an extensive impact assessment, resulted inspecifically blocking organic farming to uti-the proposal published on 5 July 2023. lize verified conventional-like NGT plants. The verification process would be CONVENTIONAL-LIKE PLANTScarried out by national authorities, making AND PRODUCTS it accessible to all organizations, includ-The proposal for a regulation foresees a ver- ing small- and medium-sized companies. ification procedure for plants and productsVerification would be based on molecular resulting from targeted mutagenesis anddata that confirms the absence of foreign cisgenesis is as follows:genes and shows that the product meets If the compliance of NGT plants withthe Equivalence Criteria for Category 1. certain equivalence criteria is confirmed byIt would not include a risk assessment and Petra Jorasch is Manager Plant Breedingauthorities, these plants and their productsNGT Category 1 plants and products would Innovation Advocacy at Euroseeds would be considered conventional-likenot require a defined detection method. (Category 1), to which the rules of the EUNevertheless, other Member States and 10ISEED WORLD EUROPEIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'