On Wednesday night, Parliament and Council negotiators reached a provisional political agreement on the Commission proposal on new genomic techniques (NGTs) – techniques that alter the genetic material of an organism.

The co-legislators agreed to exempt NGT1 plants, i.e. plants that could also occur naturally or through conventional breeding, from most of the precautionary requirements of EU legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), whereas NGT2 plants (all other NGT plants) will still be subject to these rules. The rules will apply to both plants originating in the EU and imported plants.

Criteria for NGT1 and NGT2 plants

The co-legislators agreed on criteria to determine what constitutes an NGT1 plant and, at Parliament’s request, on an exclusionary list of intended traits, including known insecticidal effects and tolerance to herbicides, that are not allowed in NGT1 plants. To steer the use of NGTs towards the development of plants with sustainability features…