The new genomic techniques have been given the green light

The Council of the EU and the Parliament have reached an agreement on the amendment of the law on genetic engineering. The EU will in the future allow new genome techniques (NGT), such as the CRISPR/Cas gene editing tool. The compromise still needs to be approved by the Council and Parliament. "New genome techniques allow us to develop new plant species that are more resistant to climate change and require less fertilizers or pesticides," says Jakob Jensen, the current President of the Council of the EU and Danish Minister of Agriculture, outlining the benefits. The amendment of the Genetic Engineering Law will provide for two categories in the future - NGT1 plants and NGT2: • NGT1 plants are those that are indistinguishable from those grown using conventional methods. Therefore, targeted mutagenesis or the use of genetic material from the same plant or from cross-breeding plants is allowed for NGT1 plants. • National authorities must check whether NGT plants belong to category 1, ...