Niveau juridique : Union européenne
Texte de la question :
« The Commission has recently introduced a highly controversial proposal for deregulation of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs), also known as ‘new genomic techniques’ (NGTs). Surprisingly, the proposal includes no form of risk assessment with regard to their impact on health and the environment or consumer labelling. Those omissions are at complete odds with the current EU laws on GMOs, which require rigorous assessments and transparency for consumers. What is more, the proposal seems to be a gift to big business, which will gain more control over the European market by producing patented, unlabelled and untraceable GMOs [1].
In view of the widespread opposition from farmers, environmental organisations and national governments, can the Commission answer the following questions:
1.On what scientific basis has the Commission decided, in breach of existing laws and the precautionary principle, to exclude the health and environmental risk assessments?
2.What is its justification for not including any safeguards for farmers who wish to keep their land free from GMOs and for breaching people’s right to complete and transparent labelling?
3.What steps does the Commission plan to take to address the concerns raised by Member States and organisations, including the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has highlighted that NGTs present risks similar to those of ‘classic’ GMOs?
[1] shorturl.at/dpJ89 »
Réponse donnée par Ms Kyriakides au nom de la Commission le 7 novembre 2023
« The Commission’s proposal aims at maintaining a high level of protection of human and animal health and the environment. It is based on scientific knowledge about the safety of plants produced by new genomic techniques (NGTs).
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that for targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis, there are no new hazards specifically linked to the genomic modification produced via these techniques [1] and that, in certain cases, similar plants could occur naturally or be obtained with conventional breeding, and that the resulting products present the same risk profiles.
EFSA also concluded that, in some cases, a lesser amount of data might be needed for the risk assessment than what is required today.
The proposal thus provides for an approach adapted to the different risk profiles of NGT plants. Adapting regulatory requirements to the level of risk is fully compatible with the precautionary principle.
The Commission proposed that provisions on traceability and labelling in the current legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) remain in place for NGT plants that are not considered equivalent to conventional plants [2]; all Member States will be required to adopt coexistence rules for such NGT plants.
For NGT plants that are considered equivalent to conventional plants [3], transparency is ensured through the labelling of seeds, information in the catalogues of varieties and a public database of NGT plants. »
[1] The impact assessment references the evidence supporting the proposal; see food.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-07/gmo_biotech_ngt_ia_report.pdf
[2] Category C NGT plants in the Commission proposal.
[3] Category C NGT plants in the Commission proposal.
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