Plants produced using in vitro random mutagenesis do not fall within the scope of the EU's GMO regulation, Directive 2001/18, according to a ruling last week by the European Court of Justice. In vitro random mutagenesis involves subjecting plant cells to chemical or physical agents (e.g. radiation) that cause damage (mutations) to the DNA, in the hope that a resulting mutation may produce a desirable effect in the plant. This kind of mutation breeding has been used for decades but only affects a minority of the plants on the market. The ruling has been widely misreported, including in a Reuters piece headlined, "In-vitro plant gene editing technique excluded from GMO rules, EU court says". In fact the new ruling does not remove gene editing, such as that performed using the CRISPR/Cas method, from the GMO regulation or strip any regulatory safeguards from gene-edited plants. GMWatch

 

 

In 2023, the governments of the EU member states will vote on the European Commission’s legislative proposal on new GMOs, which will be published in late spring. In a voting system where the weight of a state depends on the percentage of the population it represents, the position of the German government could prove decisive in the outcome of the vote. Since the change of government in December 2021, this position is not clearly decided. Germany’s position on the issue has changed since the parliamentary elections in December 2021. Its vote could prove decisive in the outcome of the Member States’ vote on the European Commission’s proposal. In the coalition government, new genetic modification techniques are viewed with skepticism in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment, both led by the Greens. Inf'OGM

 

 

In the wake of India's approval of the cultivation of GMO mustard, citizens left a gift of organic mustard for Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav at Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, the building that houses the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in New Delhi. Their message was: "This is your last chance to eat non-toxic mustard, if you don't stop GM HT [herbicide-tolerant] mustard." Kavitha Kuruganti on Twitter @kkuruganti

 

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