Council reached worrisome position on NGT Proposal: All eyes on the trilogue now

About one year after the European Parliament voted on the legislative proposal on so-called “New Genomic Techniques” (NGTs) in the plenary session in Strasbourg, the Council of the EU now also reached a position on the file. The position of neither institution offers a complete and workable frame to protect European breeders, farmers, the food industry, and citizens. It is now up to the trilogue negotiations to conceptualize a text that establishes minimum safeguards for freedom of choice for farmers and producers.

At their COREPER meeting on 14 March, Member States reached a qualified majority on the Polish compromise text that was circulated early in March. The qualified majority was able to be reached as the blocking minority that prevented positions in the Council so far was dissolved with a change in position from the Belgian government. A statement that was circulated in the COREPER meeting by the Belgians specifies that they will retract their agreement if, after the trilogues, the final text does not contain (1) a total ban on the patentability of NGTs, (2) mandatory full supply chain traceability, (3) the basis for co-existence measures for all NGTs, (4) case-by-case risk assessment before any placing on the market.

According to the Council’s press release, the major changes introduced in their position, as opposed to the Commission’s initial proposal are:  

• opt-out from cultivation: under the Council’s mandate, member states can decide to prohibit the cultivation of category 2 NGT plants on their territory 
• optional coexistence measures: member states can take measures to avoid the unintended presence of category 2 NGT plants in other products and will need to take measures to prevent cross-border contamination 
• the Council’s position also clarifies that, in order to avoid the unintended presence of category 1 NGT plants in organic farming on their territories, member states can adopt measures, in particular in areas with specific geographical conditions, such as certain Mediterranean island countries and insular regions. 
• companies or breeders must submit information on all existing or pending patents. The patenting information must be included in a publicly available database set up by the Commission which lists all NGT plants that have obtained a category 1 status. 
• the creation of an expert group on the effect of patents on NGT plants, with experts from all member states and the European Patent Office. 
• tolerance to herbicides automatically remain subject to the authorisation, traceability and monitoring requirements for category 2 NGT plants. 

However, according to the European organic movement the text neither protects European breeders and farmers from patent claims, nor does it give the agriculture and food industry all the necessary means to safeguard their entrepreneurial freedom. Firstly, on patents, the Council’s position fails to address the issues related to the patent scope of NGTs – transparency of information for breeders and farmers in a database as well as the creation of an expert group will not offer sufficient solutions for European breeders. Secondly, despite good intentions to introduce the right to take national coexistence measures for all NGTs, the corresponding amendments in the text are not workable because they are not reflected in a legal article and put the burden on organic operators by referring to the Organic Regulation. Beyond this, a full supply chain traceability system is needed for operators to have full freedom of choice – a mere seed label is not sufficient.  

The European Parliament has rightfully decided to introduce traceability in its position. Together with the Council’s intentions to introduce national co-existence measures for all NGTs, the trilogues are the last chance to get to a text that might establish minimum safeguards for freedom of choice for farmers and producers. The next step is a vote in the ENVI committee to accept the negotiating mandate for the trilogues on April 8, 2025. The first trilogue is expected to occur end of April.

Background information

Positions

• European organic movement’s resolution on new GMOs
• Global organic movement position paper on Compatibility of breeding techniques in organic systems

Other materials

• Global organic movement position paper on Compatibility of breeding techniques in organic systems
• White Paper on mitigating the impact of patents on plants obtained from NGTs
• Joint letter: Protect the business of small and medium size breeders, farmers, and the organic and non GMO sectors in the EU
• Infographic “New genomic techniques + patents = Ticking time bomb”
• Briefing paper Sustainability in organic breeding: Improving the entire system or adjusting some genes?
• Watch our video and learn about the issue with novel genomic techniques
• New GMOs – Key resources, living article which is updated periodically
• Young German organic farmers calling for their right to choose (in German, January 2023)
• Our webpage on old and new GMOs