EU Fail to Find Agreement on NGT Proposal

ISAAA May 29, 2024

The Belgian presidency presented a new compromise text aiming to break the stalemate on the regulation and loosen the requirements for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and for plants created with specific genome editing techniques (NGTs). Despite the new compromise text, national experts of the European Union could not find an agreement.

In the new text, the Belgians tackled the issue of patentability, which several member states want to be excluded from NGT plants. The legislative proposal makes a difference between NGT Category 1 plants, to be regulated as conventionally bred plants, and NGT Category 2, which falls under strict GMO legislation.

The attempt was not successful, and a minority of member states, including Poland, Austria, Croatia, and Slovakia are still reluctant to endorse the legislation.

For more details, read the article in Euractiv.