European scientists Scientists call upon EU for changes in legislation regarding new methods of plant genome editing
European scientists reach out to the European Parliament and the European Commission to change legislation regarding the use of modern methods of plant genome editing, which will free them to carry out research to benefit agriculture, the economy, and society as a whole.
Open Statement
Agriculture and food production must become more sustainable in a world facing an increasing, more affluent world population, climate change, and environmental degradation.
The recently published
Green Deal1 of the European Commission stated, within the context of the ‘Farm to Fork’
2 strategy, that the EU needs to develop innovative ways to reduce dependency on pesticides and fertilizers and reverse biodiversity loss while at the same time provide society with sufficient, nutritious, sustainable and affordable food. The strategy is in line with the importance of food and agriculture in achieving the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
3.
Besides achieving these goals, we need to ensure a highly productive and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, with an agriculture that is less dependent on imports from outside the EU.
However, setting the targets is not enough, we also need tools to help achieve these targets. All possible approaches, including innovative plant breeding technologies, are required to address these challenges and to achieve the ambitious goals of the Farm to Fork strategy. The most recent addition to the toolbox to develop new crop varieties is
precision breeding. This technology, also known as genome editing, allows scientists and breeders to develop desired crop varieties in a faster, relatively simple and much more directed way compared to previous breeding techniques. Precision breeding has far-reaching applications such as increasing the diversity of crops, the reduction of pesticides, the further development of healthy food, and many more.
A
greater diversity of crop species is not only desirable, but of central importance for both sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition. The use of more varieties of crop species will increase the resilience to climate change. This crop diversity is especially important in a climate-smart approach because it contributes to pest and disease management, which has direct effect on yields and revenues.
4
Precision breeding can considerably
reduce the dependency on pesticides by improving resistance against diseases, as illustrated in recent literature with the development of e.g. mildew resistant wheat
5,6, fungal resistant grapevine
7, fungal resistant rice
8, broad-spectrum bacterial disease resistant tomato
9, grapefruit resistant to citrus canker
10, and rice resistant to bacterial blight
11-13.
Healthy food is the key to nutritious diets. Precision breeding accelerates the introduction of healthy traits into vegetables and fruits that we currently consume, e.g. high-fiber wheat
14, low-acrylamide potato
15, low gluten wheat
16, increased contents of beneficial secondary metabolites
14, reduced contents of allergens, and toxic heavy metals in cereals, legumes, and oilseeds
17-23.
However, the development of beneficial crop varieties in a faster and much more directed way is halted in Europe, while the rest of the world embraces the technology.
The ECJ ruling of 25 July 2018 in case C-528/16
24, which is widely interpreted to subject genome-edited plants to the general restrictive provisions of the European GMO legislation, in fact is preventing the use of this technology for crop improvement in Europe.
The
regulatory approach for genome-edited crops in Europe is completely out of line with the regulations existing in other continents across the world that have adopted more ‘fit for purpose’ regulations. The lack of regulatory harmonization worldwide poses challenges in global trade and in the seed sector and it hampers the innovation and scientific progress in Europe, which is very much needed for achieving Sustainable Development and Green Deal Goals.
The figure below adopted from Schmidt
et al. provides a global overview of the regulatory approaches currently implemented or discussed in different countries for genome-edited crops (SDN-1 and SDN-2 applications)
25.
The European Sustainable Agriculture through Genome Editing (EU-SAGE)26 network, with members from 132 European research institutes and associations, strongly recommends the following to the European Council, European Parliament and the European Commission:
European scientists advise
revising the existing GMO Directive to reflect current scientific knowledge and evidence on genome editing. Moreover, genome editing leading to the introduction of changes that can also occur naturally and which do not introduce foreign DNA should be exempted from the application of the GMO legislation (
cf. SDN-1 and SDN-2). In regulating genome editing, the legislator should consider the benefits of this technology, including the disadvantages from not adopting it.
Genome editing offers an increasing range of solutions for a more efficient selection of crops that are climate resilient, less dependent from fertilizers and pesticides, and help preserve natural resources. We recommend that the European Commission endorses this message for the benefit and welfare of all EU citizens.
While the legislation of many non-EU countries facilitates the use of genome editing, EU law distinguishes fundamentally between crops according to whether they are produced by genome editing or by traditional breeding methods.
There is an urgent need of harmonization of the regulatory framework worldwide.
Influential sectors of European society are not aware of the value of innovation in agriculture, including the one needed for preserving traditional varieties.
A narrative for European food production that includes the importance of innovative, more efficient approaches in the whole value chain is necessary.
References:
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