Brussels has announced plans to lift controls on some genetically modified crops to enable farmers cope with climate change in a move likely to reignite a Europe-wide debate about the controversial techniques.
A draft EU regulation proposes that many modified plants should be approved as conventional rather than go through the bloc’s existing GMO regime, which is laborious and expensive.
According to reports, the plan is expected to establish a category of plants that have used gene editing to create new varieties but could have been achieved through traditional breeding techniques. They include wheat that can withstand drought, tomatoes resistant to fungus and potatoes containing less acrylamide, which becomes carcinogenic when fried.
EU officials are quoted as saying that the new techniques are vital to maintain crop yields as farmers contend with changing weather patterns, such as drought and floods. They would also reduce the use of pesticides, fertilisers and other chemicals. The proposal could still be changed before being put forward by the European Commission on July 5.
“The science and the evidence show that these can be achieved also through conventional breeding of crops,” said an EU official. “The economic rationale is very strong. If we want to cope with climate change and support food security we need these techniques.”
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Among other things, the proposal sets out different regulatory options but favours a light-touch regime for most new plant varieties — which would be “treated similarly to conventional plants and would not require authorisation, risk assessment, traceability and labelling as GMOs”. A transparency register would be established for these plants, according to the draft.
Gene editing is defined as a form of engineering in which genes can be deleted or added from the same or similar species, accelerating a traditional process where scientists blend different species of plant. An example would be splicing a variety of wheat with a large ear, leading to high yields, with one with a thick stem, making it more resistant to wind.
It is distinct from genetic modification, which introduces DNA from foreign species and plants using gene editing that could not arise naturally would require full GMO authorisation. However, “measures would be introduced to incentivise plant products that could contribute to a sustainable agri-food system”, and crops judged as such would not have to carry a GMO label.
According to reports, only a handful of GMOs have been authorised in the EU, mainly to feed animals, because of public and political opposition to so-called Frankenfoods. Greenpeace said that it would oppose any relaxation and described the proposal as coming from an “unscientific fantasy world where corporations’ unproven claims of benefits are taken for granted and risks don’t exist”.
Story was adapted from Financial Times.
