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European justice disappoints anti-GMOs

2023-02-07T16:56:17.451Z


The battle has been opposing anti and pro-GMOs for years: when the genome of a living species is modified without adding foreign DNA, this organism...


The battle has been between anti and pro-GMOs for years: when you modify the genome of a living species without adding foreign DNA, is this organism subject to GMO regulations?

The Court of Justice of the European Union gave Tuesday, February 7 a point to pro-GMOs.

Mutagenesis in question

The technique in question is called mutagenesis, as opposed to transgenesis, and has made it possible to develop seed varieties that are resistant to certain herbicides that are debated.

In 2018, European justice considered that organisms resulting from mutagenesis techniques used before 2001, and whose safety has long been proven, could be exempted from the rules of authorization, traceability, labeling and monitoring of GMOs.

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But the status of some of these organisms, in particular those resulting from relatively new techniques known as "

in vitro

" - from cell culture as opposed to the technique traditionally used "

in vivo

" on whole plants or seeds - has given rise to several interpretations.

The French Council of State ruled in 2020 that they should be subject to GMO regulations, while around thirty organizations in the agricultural and agri-food sectors demanded their exclusion.

“The Court of Justice opens a boulevard for them”

On Tuesday February, the CJEU, to which the Council of State had made a request for clarification, finally considered that these organisms modified by “

in vitro

” mutagenesis were excluded from European regulations on GMOs, on one condition.

These organisms "

are excluded from the scope

" of the European directive if they result "

from a technique/method of mutagenesis which has traditionally been used for various in vivo applications and whose safety has long been proven with regard to these applications

”, specifies the CJEU.

"

Our interpretation is that the Court of Justice is opening up a huge avenue both for the marketing and cultivation of unregulated GMOs, without labeling or regulation to know what technique has been used

", regretted Guy Kastler, the one of the founders of the Confédération paysanne.

He denounces “

a hold-up on cultivated biodiversity

”.

On the contrary, for Georges Freyssinet, president of the French Association of Plant Biotechnology (AFBV), "

our understanding is that mutagenesis, whether by in vivo or in vitro technique, benefits from the exclusion regime of the legislation GMOs.

It's going in the direction we were hoping

for,” he said.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-07

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