Members of the Collectif en faveur de l'innovation variétale deplore the lack of consensus among Member States on the draft NGT regulation
Members of the Collectif en faveur de l'innovation variétale deplore the lack of consensus among Member States on the draft NGT regulation
On 26 June 2024, the EU Member States failed to agree on a general approach to the draft regulation on new genomic techniques (NGT) proposed by the European Commission. This failure is particularly regrettable after four years of work by the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The Collectif en faveur de l'innovation variétale, which was set up in 2019 and represents a large number of players in the agricultural and food sectors, regrets that this final stage, prior to the opening of a trialogue, was not successful despite all the efforts of the Belgian Presidency to find a compromise before the end of the month.
While genetics is one of the solutions for meeting the challenges of agro-ecological transition and climate change, making it possible to guarantee food and plant sovereignty, this failure is incomprehensible. By undermining European seed companies' access to new breeding techniques, it is hindering the development of varieties derived from these techniques that could benefit farmers as well as the food and non-food sectors.
The Spanish and Belgian Presidencies worked hard to propose a clear legal framework adapted to these new breeding techniques. However, the majority required to stabilise the position of the Member States was not obtained, mainly due to differences of opinion on the patentability of plants derived from NGTs.
The members of the collective urge the Member States to continue discussions to define a legal framework that will allow the expected access to NGTs. The intellectual property issues already identified may be the subject of new regulatory measures following the patentability impact assessment planned by the European Commission for June 2025. The aim is to provide effective protection for innovations while facilitating access for research programmes.
"Europe is undermining itself by not allowing the new mandate to open a trialogue on a clear basis. Meanwhile, several regions of the world are already authorising these techniques on their territory. As the proposed NGT regulation represents an opportunity for the future of European agriculture, we call on the Member States to take urgent action to promote innovation in plant breeding in Europe," reiterate the presidents of the organisations in the Collectif en faveur de l'innovation variétale.