In its judgment, the court has set a clear condition; these organisms “are excluded from the scope" of the European GMO Directive if they are derived "from a mutagenesis technique or method which has traditionally been used for various in vivo applications and whose safety has long been proven with regard to those applications". In other words, mutagenesis techniques are therefore excluded from the scope of the EU GMO Directive (Directive 2001/18/EC).
Copa and Cogeca welcome the ruling of the European Court of Justice on “in vitro” random mutagenesis. European agriculture needs to access the benefits of innovation to be more sustainable and achieve the ambition as set out in the European Green Deal. Plant breeders should be able to consider certain mutagenesis techniques in their breeding programs, reducing by some 10 years the time to market. European farmers are currently facing many challenges like extreme weather conditions, price volatility, bans on plant protection products, etc making its essential to get access to improved breeds.
Copa and Cogeca now look forward to the European Commission proposal on NGTs before the summer break.
