Members of the EU Parliament adopted their position on New Genetic Engineering (NGT) in plant breeding on Wednesday. The European Commission’s draft law stipulates that some new genomic processes may no longer fall under the strict rules for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Genetic engineering skeptics reject the proposal, but it has gained support in the agricultural sector.
New mutation processes such as the Crispr/Cas genetic scissors (category NGT-1) should therefore be easier to use in the future and the plants processed through them will no longer be labeled as genetically modified. The purpose of deregulation is, among other things, to breed crops that are more resistant to water shortages or pests. However, NGT procedures involving non-crossable species, called transgenesis, (category NGT-2) should fall under existing GMO regulations.
Complete patent ban on all NGT factories
It is still difficult to say exactly what Parliament’s position will be because of the many amendments proposed. In any case, the EU Parliament has amended the Commission proposal in such a way that there should be a complete patent ban for all NGT plants, parts thereof, genetic information and process characteristics contained therein. This is intended to prevent legal uncertainty, higher costs and new dependencies for farmers and breeders, according to a statement from parliament.
Majority rejection from Austria
307 EU parliamentarians voted in favour, 263 against and 41 abstained. The majority of Austrian MEPs rejected the plan. Only NEOS MP Claudia Gamon voted in favor of the text. With their no vote, the ÖVP and FPÖ parliamentarians were also clearly in the minority in their respective EU groups.
“We want the labeling requirement for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to remain and organic products to be able to remain free of genetically modified organisms,” EU MP Alexander Bernhuber (ÖVP) said before the vote.
“With today’s decision we are paving the way for genetic engineering through the back door,” criticized SPÖ representative Günther Sidl. “A comprehensive risk assessment of genetically modified foods and an impact assessment for potentially affected ecosystems should no longer be mandatory in the future,” he said, referring to the parliamentary position.
Individual countries cannot ban genetic engineering
FPÖ MP Roman Haider criticized in the run-up to the vote that there was no provision for EU states such as Austria to continue banning genetic engineering: “Citizens will then no longer even have the opportunity to consciously opt for a GMO-free product.” to elect. Haider said in a broadcast.
After the vote, Green MEP Sarah Wiener spoke of a “disaster for agriculture, the environment and those who eat”. “Today’s vote is bad news, especially for consumers and Austrian GMO-free agriculture,” said her party colleague Thomas Waitz.
With next Wednesday’s vote, Parliament is ready for negotiations with the Council of the EU countries – but not on the other side: the responsible EU agriculture ministers have not yet managed to find a common position. At a press conference on Tuesday, several Austrian MEPs expressed hope that the Council can prevent genetic engineering rules from being relaxed too much.
Source: Krone
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