European Parliament Adopts Its Position On Gene-Edited Plants

The proposal by the European Parliament's food safety committee ENVI to ban patenting of plants modified using new genomic techniques (NGTs) has brought together industry and environmentalists in opposition. This amendment, voted through by MEPs on 24 January, seeks to update European rules to account for the precision of NGTs like Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), which modify an organism's genetic make up without introducing foreign genetic material.

NGTs are instrumental in developing plant varieties with enhanced traits such as drought resistance, salt tolerance, or reduced dependence on pesticides and fertilizers. However, concerns have been raised that patents could extend beyond the processes to obtain these traits, potentially covering the traits and plants themselves. While NGTs accelerate the development process, similar traits could also be introduced through conventional breeding methods.

IFOAM - Organics International is calling for the plenary vote on the Parliament’s position, currently scheduled for early February, to be delayed so that these concerns can be addressed.