UPDATE: The European Court of Justice’s advocate general has said gene editing technologies should be largely exempted from EU laws on GM food.
The European Court of Justice on Thursday [Jan. 18] is set to issue a preliminary opinion on whether so-called New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) should fall under the EU’s laws governing genetically modified organisms. The matter is of immense importance to environmental groups, who say these new methods are merely an industry attempt to authorize GMOs in Europe through the back door. However, the Netherlands, backed by the U.K. and the seed industry, has lobbied hard and asked the Commission to stop considering plants and vegetables created through these breeding techniques to be genetically modified organisms. If accomplished, they say, vegetables such as mushrooms that do not brown and wheat that is resistant to powdery mildew could be integrated into farmers’ toolkits much in the same way they are already done so in the U.S.
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NPBTs are seen by proponents as having some of the advantages of GMOs while avoiding their legal and reputational disadvantages. But no crops derived from NPBTs have EU authorization because of the uncertain legal situation.
Read full, original post: POLITICO Pro Morning Agri and Food: Palm oil — New plant breeding techniques — Acrylamide in chips (behind paywall)
