A public consultation on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on plants obtained by certain New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) has opened today (Monday, September 4).

NGTs provide new opportunities for the rapid development of plant varieties with specific characteristics, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said.

The potential for NGTs to deliver crops with improved traits in a faster way than conventional breeding can deliver benefits to farmers, consumers and the environment.

These techniques can also contribute to addressing current challenges in the agri-food system such as food security, climate change and biodiversity reduction, the DAFM said.

The consultation process will be open for a three-week period from today until 4:00p.m on Monday, September 25, 2023. A consultation notice is available on the DAFM's website. 

In July the European Commission adopted its proposal for a regulation on plants obtained by certain NGTs (targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis) and derived food and feed products.  

The main aims of the proposal are to: 

Maintain a high level of protection of human and animal health and of the environment;
Enable the development and placing on the market of plants and plant products contributing to EU innovation and sustainability objectives;
Ensure the effective functioning of the internal market in NGT plants and products and food and feed containing, consisting, or produced from NGT plants, and enhance the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector at the union and global levels, including a level playing field for its operators. 

Announcing the opening of the public consultation process today, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue said:

"It is clear that we need a wide range of tools and to deploy them effectively if we are to achieve increased environmental ambition and develop sustainable food systems.

"However, we must also assess how each possible tool can best be used to help us meet the challenges of food security, climate change and biodiversity," Minister McConalogue added.