Skip to main content
Annual reviewsArchiveCollaborationsLatestMediaNewsPre-Market Research

NGTs – Where Agriculture Meets Innovation

By October 25, 2024January 28th, 2025No Comments

The NGT Race.

Innovation in plant breeding has gained unprecedented importance in light of climate change, biodiversity and sustainability challenges, changing consumer diets, and increasing scarcity of natural resources such as arable land and water with a growing population.

With other parts of the world advancing rapidly in this field, the EU is falling behind in the development of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). Today, the top 5 EU countries produce less than one-fifth of the gene-editing research compared to China and just over half of the United States’ output.

To ensure a competitive and resilient EU agriculture, an enabling and science-based regulatory framework for NGTs is urgently needed.

NGTs and the EU.

NGTs can allow us to grow more with less, while improving the sustainability of farming. Adaptations, such as disease resistance, help farmers to protect yields and minimise waste, while consumers benefit from safe, healthy and longer-lasting food.

The EU currently regulates NGT products under the legislation for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), which hinders the development and availability of NGT products for European farmers, and is negatively impacting EU innovation and competitiveness. To date, no plant product obtained by NGTs has been registered for cultivation in the EU under this framework.

To learn more about NGTs and the international race for innovation, watch our video below.