European Parliament backs revised gene editing rules, which include patent ban and Commission review in 2025

Parliament adopted its position on negotiations with member states on the Commission proposal on new genomic techniques (NGTs), which alter an organism’s genetic material, by 307 votes to 263, with 41 abstentions.

Currently, all NGT plants are subject to the same rules as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). MEPs agree with the proposal to have two different categories and two sets of rules for NGT plants. NGT plants considered equivalent to conventional (NGT 1 plants) would be exempt from the requirements of the GMO legislation, while other NGT plants (NGT 2 plants) would still have to meet more stringent requirements.

For NGT 1 bets, MEPs want to change the size and number of modifications required for an NGT bet to be considered equivalent to conventional bets. To ensure transparency, MEPs agree to create a public online list of all NGT 1 bets.

For the NGT 2 plants, MEPs agreed to maintain most of the requirements of the GMO legislation, which is among the strictest in the world, including the authorisation procedure.

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MEPs want a complete ban on patents on all NGT plants, plant material, parts thereof, genetic information and process traits they contain, to avoid legal uncertainty, increased costs and new dependencies for farmers and breeders. They also demand a report by June 2025 on the impact of patents on access to diversified plant reproductive material for breeders and farmers, as well as a legislative proposal to update EU rules on intellectual property rights accordingly.