27 agri-food chain partners sign joint letter to European Commission calling for an enabling framework for plants obtained by NGTs

27 business associations in the agri-food value chain, co-signed a letter addressed to the European Commission, highlighting the need for a differentiated, proportionate and workable regulatory framework for plants resulting from New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). The letter follows the positive result of the public consultation the European Commission in July. The signatories consider an undifferentiated mandatory risk assessment step for all plants obtained by targeted mutagenesis, cisgenesis and intragenesis as disproportionate and unworkable, specifically for SMEs and highlight that under such conditions, NGTs will not deliver on the goals of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies.

Faced with increasing challenges concerning the productivity of sustainable agriculture, food security and climate change, a study on NGTs as released by the Commission in 2021 highlights that NGTs can deliver the objectives of the European Green Deal by saving land-resources, allowing a more sustainable use of crop protection products and antibiotics, improving food/feed quality and reducing emissions while stabilizing and increasing crop yields, improving animal health and welfare and ensuring food security. This is why several associations from the agri-food chain call for a new enabling framework for plants obtained by NGTs.

Partners would welcome an ambitious policy proposal presented in a timely manner to enable access to those innovations to EU farmers and the food chain as well as to consumers as soon as possible.

Read the full letter HERE.