Four out of five European citizens recognize the profound differences between [new breeding techniques like gene-editing] and the old GMOs.
This is what emerges from the results just published on the European Commission’s website of the public consultation on the regulatory framework of the new genomic techniques.
“These results,” says Clara Fossato on behalf of “Food for the Mind” (the manifesto for innovation in agriculture signed by 15 associations) “show that public opinion is willing to support the modification of the legislation on [new breeding techniques]”.
“The agri-food supply chain,” continues Fossato “asks to open as soon as possible the experimentation in the field of these precious genetic improvement tools, which can help tackle the crisis caused by climate change, the challenge of sustainability and the serious production shortage of our country “.
The ball now passes to the Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides who has promised the start of the EU [discussion] for the modification of the reference legislation, that is the Directive 18/2001 (on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms) by the end of 2022.
[Editor’s note: this article has been translated from Italian and edited for clarity.]
