News

England: Genetic engineering deregulation for research only for now

01/26/2022 - The announced deregulation for certain new genetic engineering processes in England after Brexit is taking shape. Initially, it will apply "only" to research. For commercial cultivation and use in food and feed, approval procedures and labelling will remain in place.

Specifically, the British Department of Agriculture and Environment (DEFRA) plans that the cultivation of "gene editing" plants will no longer have to be approved in the future, but will only have to be reported if they are genetic modifications that "could also arise naturally" or that "mimic natural processes," as the department has now put it.

Vague wording of deregulation

The amended wording comes in response to criticism from organisations such as GM Watch, which had complained that there was no definition of what exactly "modifications that could also arise naturally" should be. But even the new wording is what Claire Robinson of GM Watch calls "vague."

Robinson faults the department for continuing to provide no details on the proposed regulatory changes. She wonders how research could ever be made any easier, given that GM field trials are already taking place in England and the approval process seems to be "little more than a formality."

Plenty of rope for GM industry against majority vote

Nevertheless, Robinson sees the DEFRA move as a first step toward giving the GM industry in England plenty of rope and removing health and environmental protections to do so - even though a broad majority had opposed deregulation in the public consultation.

Meanwhile, the British government boasts to be able to "cut red tape" now thanks to Brexit and raves about innovation and the UK as a "global science superpower."

Deregulation only for England, not for the rest of the UK

At least it remains to be said that for food and feed products that actually reach the market, everything will remain the same for the time being and similar rules for genetic engineering will apply as in the EU. Also, deregulation for cultivation trials will apparently only apply in England, but not in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

British Department of Agriculture DEFRA: New powers granted to research gene editing in plants

GM Watch: Westminster government wants to scrap environmental protections from GMO field trials

GM Watch responds to Johnson government plans to weaken regulation around GMO research

Great Britain's roadmap for the deregulation of genetic engineering