BRUSSELS, 19 OCTOBER 2023 – IFOAM Organics Europe, the voice for organic food and farming in Europe, is strongly against the changes concerning organic in the rapporteur’s draft report on New Genetic Techniques (NGTs). Crucially, the responsible rapporteur in the ENVI committee proposed to remove the ban of Category 1 NGTs in organic (Article 5(2)). Furthermore, in the draft report, important seed labelling provisions (Article 10) are deleted, which would have been a starting point for transparency at the breeding level.

In June 2023, an overwhelming majority of the European organic movement re-affirmed that the organic production process should remain free of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). As the European Commission’s proposal reflects, the use of gene editing technologies is not aligned with the principles of organic agriculture. Using NGTs in food production can lead to unintended effects, has potential risks, and conflicts with the precautionary principle. Organic producers also want and must fulfil consumers’ expectations that no old or new GMOs are used in the organic production process.