Genetic Engineering & agriculture and regulatory provision
31st January 2025
The government’s decision to continue the work of drafting secondary legislation under the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, which had begun under the previous administration, was announced in September last year by Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner.
In January this year at his speech to the 2025 Oxford Farming Conference, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, told the audience,
“I can today confirm we will introduce secondary legislation to Parliament by the end of March, unlocking new precision breeding technology that will allow farmers to grow crops that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease, resilient to climate change and benefit the environment.”
Statutory Instruments are the measures governments use to facilitate next steps, in this case a commercial role out of material containing genetically engineered genomic sequences. OF&G and the Soil Association, working in partnership with other organic stakeholders have requested that the Defra Organic and Defra GM teams work together to recognise the need for official sanction of any coexistence measures and to support Organic Control Bodies in their legally obligated duty to protect organic supply chains from GMOs, be they the previous version or the latest using CRISPR-Cas technology, also known as ‘gene editing’.
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OF&G’s business development manager, Steven Jacobs gives an overview
of details involved in the process to date and offers sensible solutions
that could ensure a safe and smooth delivery for all actors
under both the UK Organic and the UK Genetic Technology regulations.
We're facing the very real possibility of seeing a weak set of rules with the imminent arrival of secondary legislation in March this year. These Statutory Instruments are intended to allow the commercial role out of products containing genetically engineered biological material under the terms of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.
Defra have reiterated that these new products, 'Precision Bred Organisms' also referred to as 'PBOs', will be prohibited from entering organic supply chains and must be treated as GMOs. And yet, the Genetic Tech (PBO) Act does not mandate for full disclosure by businesses intending to trade products containing 'PBOs'.
Defra also stated that PBOs will be allowed to enter markets in Wales and Scotland even against the will of both those Devolved Administrations.
- Under the UKIMA market access principles, PBO food and feed authorised in England (produced in or imported into England) can be sold lawfully in Wales and Scotland.
See - Genetic Engineering & agriculture - challenges & solutions.pdf
Both the Defra GM and Defra Organic teams are aware of the contradictions and conflicts that may ensue especially without robust rules on traceability. Working closely alongside colleagues at the Soil Association and the Biodynamic Federation, we are continuing to engage with policymakers across government.
We want to alert people to the facts as they are today, and to ask that anybody who has concerns to make those known to the governments in Wales, Scotland, and to the UK government.
For further detail:
Genetic Engineering & agriculture - regulatory oversight.pdf