Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Commission Speech, 20 November 2023
I am thankful for the Spanish Presidency for doing an excellent job in facilitating constructive discussions in Council.
This proposal bridges the sustainability, innovation and competitiveness of our agriculture, while maintaining food safety and security.
We can build on these shared aims and find a common way forward.
We have built on science and evidence, with a precautionary approach, excluding plants obtained by complex modifications from the verification procedure.
As always, we are open to listen to all concerns and consider possible solutions which guarantee that by the end of the negotiations, the Regulatory framework is both robust and agile, avoiding disproportionate obligations.
We proposed an appropriate regulatory regime for NGT plants that are equivalent to conventional plants.
There is no objective reason to subject them to the same regulatory oversight as traditional GMOs, or to require their traceability and labelling as GMOs.
At the same time, we consider it important to ensure transparency for farmers that will not use NGTs.
Measures to avoid the unintended presence of NGT plants that require a risk assessment and authorisation will address coexistence issues in a proportionate manner.
Patents are of course a prominent issue. This is something we recognised, even before the proposal came out, as a crucial element.
We are listening carefully to the concerns raised by Member States, the European Parliament and stakeholders and we have committed to assess how patents impact access to genetic material and seeds.
I would also like to assure you that we will take follow-up action if this is justified by real-world evidence.
Our services are also available to continue providing clarification to your experts about the patent framework and its implementation.
Chair, Ministers,
The challenges faced by citizens and farmers are pressing and require action, without delay.
Modern and proportionate rules for New Genomic Techniques have the potential of giving all of us a very much needed edge against present and future challenges.
I am quite confident that with your political support, we can find an agreement on this proposal before the European elections.
The following links are to related Council documents which give further information on the Council discussions so far:
For the previous news item on this topic, see:
