Foodlaw-Reading Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....

Food Law News - UK - 2023

FSA Board Paper (FSA 23-09-04), 7 September 2023

PRECISON BRED ORGANISMS (PBOs) - FSA Board Paper: Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding)

FSA Board Paper: Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) A copy of the paper is provided on this site in pdf format (click on image). Provided under the Open Government Licence. The original web page accessed from:

The following is the Summary from the paper. The paper will be discussed at the FSA Board Meeting on 20 September 2023.

This paper outlines proposals for the regulation in England of Precision Bred Organisms for use in food and feed.

1. Summary

1.1 This paper invites the Board to discuss proposals for the regulation in England of Precision Bred Organisms for use in food and feed and confirm the preferred approach, which will be subject to public consultation.

1.2 The UK Government’s Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill has now achieved Royal Assent and been confirmed as an act of Parliament (the Act). The Act contains powers for the Secretary of State to make Regulations making provision for regulating the placing on the market of food and feed produced from Precision Bred Organisms (PBOs) in England. This paper presents our detailed proposals and asks the Board to:

• Decide the preferred model for data requirements as part of the application and authorisation process;
• Decide the preferred option for implementation of the pre-market assessment process and legal route to authorisation;
• Agree the approach to provide an enhanced register of PBOs authorised for use in food/feed;
• Agree the proposals for enforcement and traceability; and,
• Note the implications of the UK Internal Market Act (2020) and the Windsor Framework.

1.3 Secondary legislation following the Precision Breeding Act is expected to be laid in summer 2024 and to come into force by the end of the year. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Ministers have agreed to streamline the legislative process and deliver one joint package of Statutory Instruments (SIs), with the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) as the lead Department.

1.4 Following the Board’s confirmation of the preferred approach, the FSA will advise Ministers of the detailed proposals and, if supported, the proposals are likely to be subject to collective agreement from relevant Departments and Cabinet Committees before formal public consultation in Autumn 2023. That consultation will inform the final design of the regulatory approach.

For previous FSA Board Paper on this topic, see:

• 9 March 2023 PRECISION BRED ORGANISMS - Board Paper: The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill: Consumer Information, Traceability and Developing Other Elements of the New Regulatory Framework for Precision-Bred Food and Animal Feed

See also:

• 23 March 2023 PRECISON BRED ORGANISMS - Genetic Technology Act key tool for UK food security