Dear readers,

Following their final adoption in June, the watered-down new EU rules on new genetic engineering (NGT) must be applied from July 2028. From then on, the first ‘NGT 1’ crops could be grown, the products of which would no longer have to be labelled as ‘genetically modified’. This presents new challenges for all stakeholders who wish to continue meeting the high demand for Non-GMO and organic food.

A new legal opinion has now, at least, reached the encouraging conclusion that the long-standing national protection rules relating to the cultivation of genetically modified crops will continue to apply even after the new EU regulations come into force. In an initial response to the publication, the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture shares the view that ‘NGT 1’ crops will continue to be legally classified as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). However, the Ministry still sees no “scope for national coexistence measures”.

The new EU regulation expressly does not cover protective rules on the coexistence of NGT and Non-NGT cultivation, nor on nature conservation. National rules continue to apply in these areas. With regard to organic products, the NGT Regulation even explicitly refers to the regulatory powers of the Member States. It will now be interesting to see what legal assessment other relevant departments of the German federal government, federal state governments and other EU Member States arrive at.

Companies in the GMO-free sector should now make it clear to political decision-makers that, with the removal of the labelling requirement for NGT 1, they are particularly dependent on effective protection against contaminations and that the protective rules must therefore continue to be applied – as is  required by law.

We wish you a wonderful summer!
Your VLOG Team