Description
- The Commission’s proposal on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) has the potential to enable all actors, including SMEs and public researchers, to bring more resilient and sustainable plants to the EU market. This supports investment in plant breeding innovation in the EU and enhances competitiveness and sustainability of European agriculture.
- An enabling EU framework must provide clear and science-based criteria to determine the equivalence between NGT-derived plants and their conventional counterparts; a simplified verification process allowing all actors to commercialise products; and proportionate authorisation requirements, especially for products for which a detection method cannot be developed.
- The European agricultural sector urgently needs a proportionate and science-based regulation on NGTs. Allowing their uptake in the EU will facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable and resilient agriculture. Achieving this requires swift action from the European Parliament and Council.