Decision process regarding the authorisation for use in food and feed of plant-based products obtained through so-called ‘new breeding techniques’

13.7.2016

Question for written answer P-005734-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Bart Staes (Verts/ALE)

The Commission has announced on several occasions that it would publish a legal interpretation of Directive 2001/18 regarding the status of seven of the so-called ‘new plant breeding techniques’. In a letter sent in June 2015, the Commission asked the Member States not to allow any release into the environment of plants modified through these techniques outside of the legal framework designed for genetically modified organisms, before said legal interpretation was published. The Commission has not, to our knowledge, made any official statement regarding the process concerning any future imports of products coming from plants obtained through one of these techniques. This issue will soon need to be addressed, as Cibus began to market its first crop obtained through Oligonucleotides Directed Mutagenesis, SU Canola™, in North America in 2015.

1. What is the procedure for approving authorisation for use in food and feed of products coming from plants obtained through so-called ‘new breeding techniques’ in the absence of a legal interpretation on the genetically modified organism status of these plants?

2. Can the Commission confirm that these products will not go through the standard procedure for import of non-genetically modified products, especially as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) — in its opinion of 26 January 2012 — pointed to specific risks in the case of two of these techniques?