Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Council Minutes, 10 April 2024
The following is an extract from the Minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting.
The Council took note of the information provided by the Spanish delegation, supported by the Czech, Danish, Estonian, Irish, Italian, Netherlands, Portuguese, Finnish and Swedish delegations on the importance of providing the agrifood sector with new plant breeding strategies, based on genome editing techniques, to strengthen its sustainability, resilience, and profitability. The Council also took note of the reactions of several delegations and of the Commission.
The following is the main text contained in the information note (8035/1/24 REV 1) discussed at the meeting :
The importance of providing the agrifood sector with new plant breeding strategies, based on genome editing techniques, to strengthen its sustainability, resilience, and profitability.
Innovation in plant breeding is an important tool to support the transition of our agri-food sector to a more sustainable and profitable model and to face current challenges such as climate change. The present and future of plant breeding is linked to the development of new genomic techniques (NGT) that enable more targeted, precise and faster changes in the genetic characteristics of plants, as compared to conventional breeding techniques without compromising on safety. NGT can improve the natural tolerance of our crops to biotic and abiotic stresses, such as drought or pest impact. They and also contribute to increasing crop yields, food safety and security, as well as to reducing food waste, while preserving and enlarging the diversity of genetic resources for our agri-food sector.
The European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation on NGT, which aims to enable the EU agri-food sector to contribute to the innovation and objectives of the European Green Deal and its Strategies, and to enhance the sector’s competitiveness, while maintaining a high level of protection of health and of the environment.
The NGT dossier was a key initiative during the semester of the Spanish Presidency with significant progress resulting in compromise proposals on the main issues. The work has continued during the Belgian Presidency to finish negotiations and reach an agreement during the current term of office of the European Parliament.
The European Parliament has already adopted its position. At this point, Spain wishes to point out the need to continue joining efforts so that the Council can reach an agreement on this important proposal, which could provide the European Union with a legal framework adapted to these techniques. Such a legal framework is already available for many of our main trading partners.
Plant breeding, based on new genomic techniques, is one of the fields of biotechnology that the European Union must strengthen, since these strategic technologies will ensure the sovereignty and competitiveness of our agriculture and food systems as strategic sectors for the European Union, facilitating the agro-ecological transition and the resilience of those sectors, while reducing their dependence on third countries, particularly in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical context
