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Dear EU-SAGE members,

Recently, the European Commission published its roadmap (https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13119-Legislation-for-plants-produced-by-certain-new-genomic-techniques_en) for a legislative initiative regarding plants produced by certain new genomic techniques (NGTs): targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis. This is a follow-up action based on the findings of the Commission study on NGTs from April 2021.

In this roadmap (or inception impact assessment) two topics are being addressed:

1. What policy elements should be taken into consideration for future legislation.

2. What impacts will need to be assessed to evaluate the potential policy actions.

We would like to highlight that a public consultation was launched to enable anyone to provide their feedback, opinion and ideas on this roadmap. It is a unique opportunity for the scientific community as well to engage, share or reiterate its views and expertise on this topic. We would like to encourage you and your colleagues to respond from your own experience & perspective with the aim to show as many diverse and constructive points of view as possible. The deadline of this consultation is 22nd October.

You might have observed that there are already many responses, which are mainly copy-pasted or translated from pre-written templates. Unfortunately, this shows how certain organisations misuse democratic instruments for public engagement. However, the consultation is not a poll: it is not about the number of responses but the content, so let’s focus on that!

We are currently working on a draft EU-SAGE response that will be send to you next week.

Please do not hesitate to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to us in case you have any questions or ideas to share.

Kind regards,

Dirk Inzé and Oana Dima

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On 26 January, the Members of the European Parliament Jessica Polfjärd (SE, EPP) and Erik Bergkvist (SE, S&D) are hosting a webinar on “Genome editing and the Farm to Fork strategy”. The webinar will discuss the potential of genome editing to contribute to the F2F objectives, the current regulatory landscape for GMOs, and future governance options.

 

Time:                26 January 2021, 10:30-12:00

Event type:       Webinar, video streamed

Speakers:         Hosts; Prof. Wendy Harwood; Prof. Piet van der Meer; Dr. Tomasz Zimny; Q&A panel

Registration:     Programme and registration(click)

 

Background

The European Commission F2F strategy states  that innovations in plant breeding and crop production can contribute to a more sustainable food system. However, the continued regulatory uncertainty about the regulatory status of genome edited organisms may present obstacles to achieving this.

In 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that products of newer forms of mutagenesis are GMOs that are not exempted from risk regulation. This ruling has often been interpreted as meaning that all genome-edited organisms should be GMO-regulated, but a recent analysis shows that such generic conclusions cannot be drawn, and that further clarification of the legal status of genome edited organisms is urgently needed. The study that the Commission is producing on request of the Council offers a good opportunity for that.

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