The solution developed by the Italian startup Agri-E enables on-site bioethanol production, promoting energy self-sufficiency for farms.
There is a European agreement to deregulate new GMOs. But what does it mean?
The European Council and Parliament have reached an agreement on the European Commission’s proposal to deregulate new GMOs. But farming, organic agriculture, and environmental organizations are calling for it to be stopped.
- According to the agreement on new GMOs reached by the European Council and Parliament, crops obtained through new genomic techniques will be exempt from GMO regulatory requirements.
- The stated goal, according to those who support their effectiveness, is to promote the development of climate and pests resistant crops, ensuring higher yields and food security.
- For farmers’ organizations, organic agriculture groups and environmentalists, liberalization must be stopped because biodiversity and consumer transparency are at risk.
On December 3rd, the European Parliament and Council reached an agreement on the Commission’s proposal concerning new genomic techniques (NGTs), also defined as Assisted evolution techniques (Aets), the so-called new Gmos.
The difference between these new techniques developed since 2000 and the GMOs of the 1970s is that, while GMOs involve inserting into the genome of an organism sequences of genes from other species — a foreign dna — NGTs intervene on the genome of an organism using genes from organisms of the same species. As a result, this is not transgenesis as in the case of GMOs, but mutagenesis, a mutation.
What the agreement on the deregulation of new GMOs provides
Under current legislation, new GMOs are subjected to the same rules on labelling, traceability and risk assessment as GMOs. Now, however, a deregulation has been proposed to exempt NGT crops (with the exception of seeds and plant reproductive material) from these obligations. The NGT1 category, which comprises laboratory products obtained through precision gene-editing techniques that act like molecular scissors to modify specific dna traits already present in the plant, would be exempted. Meanwhile, NGT2 products — those that differ from the parent plant by more than 20 genetic modifications and that have known insecticidal effects and herbicide tolerance — will continue to be subject to regulation. Moreover, a European code of conduct on patents will be developed.
These rules will be applied to both EU-origin plants and imported ones, while NGTs will be banned in organic agriculture: the technically unavoidable presence of NGT1 plants will not constitute non-compliance for organic products. Member States will be able to decide whether to limit or prohibit NGT2.
The European union: “New GMOs introduced to address the climate crisis and ensure food security”
The stated objective of the new rules is to make the food system more sustainable and resilient by developing and making accessible improved plant varieties, resistant to climate and pests, that offer higher yields or require fewer fertilizers and pesticides. Various NGT products exist on the market outside the Eu, such as varieties of maize, wheat and rice that require less water, and bananas and mushrooms that do not turn black.
“This is a historic day. The Eu is taking the first step to give farmers access to a new technology, winner of the Nobel prize. A technology that will allow them to grow crops capable of resisting climate change and achieving higher yields on a smaller surface”, reported the speaker Jessica Polfjärd (EPP, SE). “This is essential to strengthen our food security. Today’s agreement represents a breakthrough that strengthens not only the competitiveness of our farmers, but also Europe’s position in research and innovation”.
Slow Food: “Stop new GMOs, agroecology is the solution”
Farmers’ organizations, organic agriculture groups and civil society organizations across Europe are instead calling for the deregulation to be stopped. According to a joint statement by Slow Food Italia, Navdanya International, Federbio, Aiab, Lipu, Greenpeace Italia, Legambiente and others, the liberalization of NGTs would in fact open the way for their spread without traceability or accountability. Organic agriculture and GMO-free agriculture would be exposed to inevitable contamination with a potential loss of the country’s agricultural biodiversity. Furthermore, consumers would not have information on labels on which to consciously base their purchasing choices, for their own health and for that of the environment.
“In Italy, scientific research is moving forward quickly and field trials have been authorized,” explained Francesco Sottile, associate professor at the University of Palermo and vice president of Slow Food Italia. “It is expected that it will not take long before we see new GMO crops. No one can predict their effects, but certainly the new GMOs are designed for intensive monocultures and for the interests of the agroindustry. Thinking of solving the climate crisis and pest attacks with new GMOs is like sweeping dust under the rug. Just look at what happened with glyphosate-resistant GMOs: the result is that farmers, instead of decreasing herbicide quantities, had to increase them. The solution instead is to act from an agroecological perspective.”
What the Seeds of Resistance report by Navdanya International says
Navdanya International has published Seeds of Resistance, a report documenting the expansion of old and new GMOs and the deregulation of biosafety systems across all continents. The report shows how the GMO–gene-editing package is rapidly expanding: in South Africa, over 3 million hectares are cultivated with GMOs, while in Colombia transgenic areas have surpassed 100,000 hectares. In Bangladesh, Bt eggplant is cultivated by more than 65,000 farmers. At the same time, more than 95 percent of the seeds used worldwide continue to come from traditional local systems, confirming that food sovereignty is based above all on seeds safeguarded by communities.
The study highlights how the increase in GMO and gene-editing crops is accompanied by the concentration of control over seeds and genetic traits, while most seeds worldwide continue to come from traditional systems. Independent studies report undesired mutations, genetic instability, contamination and loss of biodiversity related to technologies such as CRISPR-Cas and gene drive, in the absence of real scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs and NGTs.
Deregulation opens a new wave of patents on seeds and genetic traits, strengthening the power of industrial giants and making it more difficult for small farmers and independent breeders to access and improve seeds. “There is nothing natural about next-generation GMOs: the techniques change, but the same logic remains — the privatization of seeds and the concentration of power in the hands of a few multinationals,” says Ruchi Shroff, Navdanya International director, recalling that deregulation transfers risks and costs onto farmers and citizens.
In his contribution to the report, agricultural geneticist Salvatore Ceccarelli, member of the Board of Navdanya International, defines GMOs and NGTs as “evolutionarily losing solutions” because they rely on genetic uniformity, while ecology and medicine show that diversity is what guarantees productivity, climate resilience and health. “Agrobiodiversity offers farmers durable tools to face climate change and pests without depending on patented technologies.”
The vote on the informal agreement must now be approved by Parliament and the Council in second reading. If confirmed, it will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Eu Official Journal and will apply two years later.
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