“New GMOs”: debate in the European Parliament on new genomic techniques

This Tuesday, February 6, MEPs will debate a text on “new GMOs” in plenary in Strasbourg. The Environment Committee voted to relax the rules governing certain genetic biotechnologies. A position that divides the 27. Why is the European Parliament looking into this issue? And above all, what are these “new GMOs”? 

Environmental NGOs are calling for new genomic techniques to remain subject to GMO regulations. Getty Images - Tom Werner

By: Pauline Gleize Follow

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The expression “new GMOs” is regularly used – and sometimes contested – to talk about seeds or plants whose genetic material has been modified by man using various tools. Unlike “classic”

GMOs

(which have made it possible, for example, to implant a sunflower gene into wheat)

,

these are not “transgenic” organisms. There is no addition of foreign DNA

.

NGT, for “new genomic techniques” correspond to various methods. This may involve gene transfer, but this transfer takes place within the same species or between species that can interbreed. We can also find targeted genome modification techniques using Crispr-Cas9, a kind of molecular scissors.

Controversial

Defenders of these techniques see the promise of varieties more resistant to diseases, insects or, in a context of global warming, more resistant to drought. Their detractors are worried about consequences, which they consider still too unpredictable

,

of the risk of contamination to other fields, including fields cultivated in organic agriculture. In any case, since a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2018, they are governed in the EU by the same regulations as GMOs.

Also listen: “New GMOs”: new agricultural model?

The debate in the European Parliament concerns precisely a relaxation of the rules to which the NGTs are subject. They were divided into two categories. In the first, seeds and products which present modifications likely to occur naturally or via natural crosses. The text voted on by the members of the Environment Committee provides that, in this case, the strict rules governing GMOs would no longer apply.

If

they only have a limited number of mutations, they would be considered equivalent to conventional varieties. Saving them in a public database would be enough. The second category, bringing together the other NGT varieties, would remain subject to GMO regulations. This requires lengthy authorization procedures, health impact studies and product labeling.

Towards partial labeling

If points of convergence have been found, several questions still divide. The ban on patents on NGT brings all parliamentary groups in agreement. This should help prevent farmers from being dependent on certain companies.

The possibility of having NGT products labeled “organic” is, on the contrary, debated, as is the fact that the labeling obligation only concerns seeds. Member States will also have to agree. They failed to do so last December.

Around fifteen states including France support these technologies, others like Germany and Austria are concerned about the possibility of coexistence with “organic” agriculture.

Also read: New genomic techniques (NGT) facing climate challenges

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