EU adopts new legal framework for genome editing in plant breeding

The European Parliament has adopted the compromise on the Regulation on New Genomic Techniques, thereby paving the way for a new legal framework in plant breeding. After almost eight years of political debate, genome-edited plants will in future be subject to differentiated regulation and will no longer be automatically covered by existing genetic engineering legislation. In future, the regulation will distinguish between two categories. NGT-1 plants, whose genetic modifications could also have arisen through conventional breeding, will largely be treated in the same way as conventional varieties. For these, the requirements for GMO authorisation, risk assessment and the labelling of food and feed will no longer apply. Seeds will remain subject to labelling requirements and will be recorded in a public EU database. For NGT-2 plants, the existing authorisation and labelling rules will continue to apply.