Viewpoint: Europe’s meandering path on gene editing policy may soon near a breakthrough moment

gmo
Credit: Pixabay

A very large number of countries (more than 30 spread over every continent: America, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Rim) are already developing genetically-edited plants based on new genomic techniques (NGTs). 

…

The European Union (EU), whose Court of Justice (EUJC) classified all plant products derived from NGTs as GMOs (i.e. governed by Directive 2001/18) in 2018, is presently continuing the procedure initiated in 2019 by the European Council to change NGTs regulation.

…

Six years on, this process is still under way, but it is on the point of coming to a successful conclusion ‘very soon’, as the saying goes, with the conclusion of a dedicated ‘trialogue’.

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It brings together representatives of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission for a final inter-institutional negotiation.

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Let us hope that the new European regulations that will apply to plant NGTs, with all the restrictions already announced, will finally enable the EU to join in the global train of progress in genetic editing…

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here

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