"A handful of biotech and pesticide corporations will reap the benefits and profits, while farmers, consumers and nature face significant risks and losses" – Friends of the Earth Europe
1. New Polish draft on new GMOs: Who wins and who loses – Friends of the Earth Europe
2. Polish proposal misses the mark – Save Our Seeds
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1. New Polish draft on new GMOs: Who wins and who loses
Friends of the Earth Europe, 9 January 2025
https://friendsoftheearth.eu/press-release/eu-deregulation-of-new-gmos-who-wins-and-who-loses/
Following the Polish presidency’s new draft EU law to exclude the new generation of genetically modified organisms (new GMOs, so-called NGTs) from most EU legislative requirements, Friends of the Earth Europe has published a series of briefings assessing the impacts of the deregulation plans for different segments of the society – from patents, labelling, risk assessments and liability.
The briefings reveal a stark divide: a handful of biotech and pesticide corporations will reap the benefits and profits, while farmers, consumers and nature face significant risks and losses.
Patents: Consolidating corporate control
The Polish draft aims to minimise the marketing of patented new GMOs. However, the real issue lies in the existing patent legislation which is riddled with loopholes and fosters the power of a few agribusiness giants - Bayer, Corteva and Chem China/Syngenta - over the food sector. Deregulation of new GMOs will not help curb these monopolies.
By allowing biotech giants to patent GMO traits as well as traits that occur naturally or through classical breeding methods, the law risks granting corporations ownership over natural seeds and conventionally bred products. This would block small and medium-sized breeders from accessing critical genetic resources, undermining their ability to adapt to emerging diseases or extreme weather.
Read the briefing on patents.
Labelling: consumers and farmers left in the dark
The draft law excludes new GMOs from existing labelling requirements, denying consumers their right to transparency. For over two decades, European consumers have consistently rejected GMOs, yet the deregulation opens lucrative new market opportunities for agribusiness giants by bypassing this opposition.
Farmers, especially those practicing organic or conventional (non-GMO) farming will bear the brunt of these changes, facing significant additional burdens and costs to prevent contamination from unlabelled new GMOs.
Read the briefing on labelling.
Safety checks and liability: A free pass for big corporations
EU lawmakers intend to remove any safety checks for most new GMOs without introducing compensatory liability clauses. This means that corporations like Bayer, Chem China/Syngenta, BASF and Corteva can market these products with no accountability for potential harm.
Food processors and retailers will be forced to absorb extra costs to safeguard conventional and organic products from contamination. Furthermore, the indefinite authorisation of new GMOs planned under the deregulation law, without monitoring mechanisms, means any potential harm will likely go unaddressed, leaving consumers, farmers, and the environment exposed without recourse.
Read the briefings on safety checks and on liability.
Mute Schimpf, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “EU decision makers have failed to explain why we need this dangerous deregulation. If this proposal succeeds, it could trigger a wave of patented plants across Europe’s fields, handing unprecedented power to agribusiness giants. Meanwhile, consumers will lose their right to know what’s in their plates, and farmers will bear the costs of preventing contamination. This draft law benefits a select few at the expense of everyone else.”
Next step: National officials will discuss the Polish draft text in a special working group meeting on 20 January 2025.
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2. Polish proposal misses the mark
Save Our Seeds, 8 Jan 2025
On January 7, 2025, the Polish EU Presidency released a new compromise proposal on the deregulation of plants genetically engineered through gene-editing techniques like CRISPR-Cas. The goal is to finally secure a majority in the Council of Ministers after the European Parliament adopted its position in February 2024. The compromise proposal builds on an earlier one issued by the Belgian EU Presidency in February 2024.
The Polish Presidency focuses only on the contentious issue of plant patents. It overlooks other important points, such as the need for consumer labelling, traceability, and risk assessment.
The proposal introduces additional conditions for the market placement of GM seeds categorised as “New Genomic Techniques Category 1” (NGT1), which are protected by one or more product or process patents that result in a specific characteristic (trait):
• Labelling: NGT1 seeds protected by a patent must be labelled as either ‘patent protected’ or ‘patent pending’ to distinguish them from non-patented NGT1 seeds.
• Opt-out: Member States have the option to adopt measures restricting or prohibiting the cultivation of patented NGT1 plants in all or part of their territory.
Franziska Achterberg, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Save Our Seeds, said: “The Polish proposal does little to address the significant regulatory gaps created by this draft law. If passed, this compromise would make it difficult for farmers and food producers—including those in the organic sector—to produce the GMO-free food that consumers want. The environment and our health would remain vulnerable to the potential risks posed by these engineered plants.”
Until recently, Poland was part of a blocking minority that opposed deregulating the latest generation of GM plants. The Tusk government had insisted that all GM food and feed products be labelled.
Achterberg said, “The Polish government seems to have forgotten the importance of maintaining consumer trust and protecting GMO-free agricultural production in the EU. We call on the new EU Presidency to uphold minimum safety standards, transparency, and fairness for farmers.”
Background
Under current regulations, developers of GMOs, including NGT plants, must provide detailed information, safety studies, reference materials, and a detection test to have their products authorised in the EU. Authorisation is contingent on a risk assessment, and GMOs must be traceable throughout the food chain, with final products labelled as containing GMOs. Once authorised, individual countries or regions can ban GMO cultivation within their territories.
However, under the proposed rules, including Poland’s amendments, safety checks and detection tests would no longer be required, and final products would not need to be labelled as containing GMOs. EU countries or regions could still ban cultivation unless these GM seeds qualify as conventional-like and are not patented.
At the end of 2023, the newly elected Polish government stated, “Labelling of products is essential to ensure traceability, keep consumer trust by providing sufficient information and the freedom of choice for consumers.” The government added, “The exclusion of category 1 NGT plants of organic farming can only be guaranteed, if not only seeds and propagating material, but also food and feed products are labelled.”
Notes
1. https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-16714-2023-INIT/en/pdf
2. During a ministerial debate on 10 December 2024, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, France, Greece, Malta and Romania raised the patent issue, https://video.consilium.europa.eu/event/en/27751
3. For example, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Romania have explicitly asked for consumer labelling of NGT plants, whereas Denmark, Sweden and others are opposed. See documents https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-12514-2024-ADD-1/en/pdf and https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-12514-2024-ADD-2/en/pdf.
4. https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-16250-2023-ADD-1/en/pdf; see also proposal of 27 November by Hungary, Austria, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-16033-2023-INIT/en/pdf