News

How the EU Commission and EFSA are paving the way for deregulation of New GE

30 June 2022 / Testbiotech recently participated in an European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) consultation on guidelines for the risk assessment of ‘cisgenic’ plants, which ended at the beginning of this week. The ‘cisgenic’ plants are genetically engineered, but, in contrast to transgenic plants, contain no genetic material from other species. EFSA suggests that most applications of CRISPR/Cas can be put into this category. The consultation is, therefore, generally relevant to the risk assessment of plants derived from New GE (also called new genomic techniques, NGT). However, the way in which EFSA deals with this issue appears to be completely inadequate.

By Stop Gene Drives Campaign, Save Our Seeds, Germany; Terre a Vie, Burkina Faso; Third World Network; African Biodiversity Network (ABN); Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya (BIBA Kenya).

Gene drive technology uses new genetic engineering techniques including CRISPR/Cas9 to forcibly spread genetically engineered traits, including lethal ones, throughout entire populations and species, overriding natural rules of inheritance so that nearly 100% of offspring inherit the genetically engineered trait.

The debate around gene editing will likely come into the spotlight in the coming months as the government looks to relax rules around changing the DNA of livestock and crops in England. While the environment secretary says it will help ensure food security, there’s a particular concern for some organic farmers—cross-pollination.

THE BBC and other media have been accused of “repeating uncritically and ad nauseam” UK Government “lies” about genetically edited foods.

The news comes after the Tories in Westminster asked the devolved ­nations to renege on established ­policy and allow gene-edited crops to be grown in their territories in order to align themselves with upcoming rule changes in England.

The Conservatives have claimed that genetically edited food differs from genetically modified food – both of which are classified together under EU law – as it does not involve the insertion of foreign genes.

Dr Michael explains how gene editing fits into the complex spectrum of genetic modification, and how consumers may unwittingly find themselves no longer able to avoid GM products, as government regulation eases.

With his team, he has also pioneered research into the impact of glyphosate, the globally used herbicide also known as Roundup, with shocking impacts on mammalian health.

25.05.2022

5:30-6:45 p.m. CET

This webinar is the eighth episode of the series of ten The Alphabet of Complexity webinars. The letter H (as in “holistic”) will guide us through the main question of the day: What factors should be taken into consideration in the battles to reclaim power over food systems in 2022?

The key speakers of this webinar are Christine von Weizsäcker, Benedikt Haerlin and Nina Holland.

Despite the objections of over 105 groups and thousands of Canadians like you, Health Canada announced that it will allow companies to sell some new gene-edited foods without any government safety checks. Companies can now also sell these GM foods without telling the government about them. These regulatory exemptions apply to foods from gene-edited plants that have no foreign DNA (there is no DNA from other species incorporated). This decision to allow corporate self-regulation of these GM foods was approved by the Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos.

The Wrong Answer to the Wrong Question

We are extremely disappointed that the Government is pushing ahead with proposals to allow unregulated genetic modification of plants, including food crops, in England – and with hopes to do the same for animals.

In light of the climate and nature crisis and ongoing global instability, we urgently need a different land use and food production model. One which takes an agroecological approach that works with nature. The right question to ask right now is what research and development do we need to prioritise for this. The government hasn’t asked this. It hasn’t even responded to the National Food Strategy or announced a much-needed Food Bill, which should be top priority

Reducing pesticide use by 50% by 2030 is a central goal of the EU Farm to Fork strategy, which aim to improve the sustainability of the food and farming systems and reverse environmental degradation. The European Commission claims that new genetically modified (GM) plants can help achieve that and is moving ahead with plans to deregulate this new generation of GMOs.

This briefing examines the history of first-generation, currently grown GM crops, as well as the new GM crops that are commercialised and in the pipeline. Based on the evidence, new GM crops will not reduce pesticide use. Some are even designed to increase it.

Pursuing false GM promises for pesticide reduction distracts from proven approaches. This briefing provides an overview of system-based solutions to effectively achieve pesticide reduction goals.

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