EU-wide survey on changes to genetic engineering law?

As part of a public hearing, the European Commission, within the E3 Biotechnology Unit, approached experts and members of the public to determine whether the legislation governing plants produced using certain new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be amended. This follows a study on the status of new genomic techniques (NGTs) [mutagenesis and cisgenesis] conducted in April 2021, which confirmed that NGTs have been and continue to develop rapidly worldwide. The study concluded, among other things, that plants derived from NGTs have the potential to contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal, particularly the Farm-to-Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a resilient and sustainable agricultural and food system. The Commission assumed that the existing terminology was unclear, and that, based on an EFSA study, targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis techniques generally posed a lower risk than plants produced using conventional techniques, but that these were subject to the same legal authorisation requirements, without taking into account whether the product had the potential to address societal challenges, particularly sustainability. Against this background, the EU Commission specifically wanted to know whether participants favored simplified authorisation rules from a sustainability perspective. The study ran from April 29, 2022, to June 22, 2022. The individual opinions can be found on the EU Commission's website .