Will the EU stay out of step with science and the rest of the world on plant breeding innovation?

Abstract

Innovations in plant breeding like genome editing methods raised questions about the adequacy of established regulatory policies for plant breeding and biotechnology in view of these new breeding methods and the resulting products. Most countries follow the principle approach that only those plants will be regulated under biotech regulations that include a novel combination of genetic material following the Cartagena protocol. In contrast to this, the European Court of Justice interpreted the current EU biotech regulations in a way that these also apply to plants resulting from new mutagenesis breeding, even if these plants are indistinguishable from conventionally bred plants. This ruling created strong reactions and concerns stating that recent technical developments have made the EU GMO Directive no longer fit for purpose. The article describes ongoing policy developments on EU level that might result in an update of current regulations.