EFSA GMO Panel comment on New Genomic Techniques

16 Jul 2024

EFSA was asked by the European Parliament to provide a scientific opinion on the analysis by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) of Annex I of the European Commission proposal for a regulation ‘on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (NGTs) and their food and feed, and amending regulation (EU) 2017/625’.

The EFSA GMO Panel concluded that the available scientific literature shows that plants containing the types and numbers of genetic modifications used as criteria to identify category 1 NGT plants in the European Commission proposal do exist as the result of spontaneous mutations or random mutagenesis.

Therefore, it is scientifically justified to consider category 1 NGT plants as equivalent to conventionally bred plants with respect to the similarity of genetic modifications and the similarity of potential risks.

The EFSA GMO Panel did not identify any additional hazards and risks associated with the use of NGTs compared to conventional breeding techniques in its previous Opinions.

The full report can be found here: Scientific opinion on the ANSES analysis of Annex I of the EC proposal COM (2023) 411 (EFSA‐Q‐2024‐00178) - - 2024 - EFSA Journal - Wiley Online Library