With the European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) set to vote on new genomic techniques (NGTs) on 24 January, the dossier is becoming increasingly divisive, with the right-wing groups aligning to push it through – and the left remaining split. ENVI committee MEPs will vote next Wednesday (24 January) on the proposal for new rules for gene-edited plants, which currently fall under the genetically modified organisms (GMO) framework, to get the law approved in plenary before the end of this legislative mandate. A political meeting scheduled for 16 January was replaced by a technical meeting, as European People’s Party (EPP), Renew, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and Identity and Democracy (ID) MEPs are those most aligned to vote in favour of the draft report by the European Parliament's Jessica Polfjärd, the rapporteur on the dossier. French socialist MEP Christophe Cleargeau, shadow rapporteur on the file, urged Polfjärd to “re-start” discussions on the proposal after the French health authority (ANSES) published a report in December saying that some of the EU executive’s criteria for classifying NGTs lacked a scientific basis. Euractiv

 

 

There is increasing confusion in the European Parliament about the future regulation of plants derived from new genetic engineering ("new genomic techniques" or NGT). The rapporteur Jessica Polfjärd’s (EPP) most recent proposed amendments lack sufficient scientific basis and would turn mandatory risk assessment of NGT plants into a rare exception, writes Testbiotech. In addition, the non-realistic hope is encouraged that NGT plants could be exempted from patent protection. In current documents, the rapporteur proposes that only those NGT plants that produce new ("chimeric") proteins should be subjected to mandatory risk assessment. The problem: New genetic engineering typically is used to switch off specific plant genes. In result, NGT plants can exhibit characteristics and risks that go far beyond the results of breeding and the characteristics of the natural species. However, it is by no means necessary for NGT plants to form "chimeric" proteins to exhibit such traits. Testbiotech via GMWatch

 

 

GMWatch participated in the UK Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) consultation on the deregulation of new GMOs, submitting our response in the Christmas holiday period before the 8 January deadline. There didn't seem to be any way to keep a copy of our response, so we can't show it to our readers. We also submitted to the consultation our response to some of the FSA's replies to GMWatch, in which they responded to our questions to their September 2023 board meeting, and this document is published here. In addition, we sent our response directly to the FSA board. We were alarmed by many of the FSA's claims and assertions, which ignored or wildly misinterpreted much of the peer-reviewed scientific evidence we had sent to them. Together with Beyond GM and other groups, we have submitted an official complaint to the FSA about the consultation. GMWatch

 

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