Gene editing clears final hurdle in Parliament

A new regulatory framework, which allows the commercial cultivation of gene-edited crops in England, has cleared its final hurdle in Parliament and comes into force from today (13 November).

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants in England gained Royal Assent in 2023 and the House of Lords approved its secondary legislation on 6 May.

 The new regulations were signed into law on 13 May.

See also: UK government seeks gene-edited crops exemption in EU deal

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture (APPGSTA) says allowing the cultivation of gene-edited crops represents an important step in ensuring farmers, consumers, and the environment can benefit from advances in gene editing and other precision-breeding techniques.

“From today we expect applications to come forward which will offer the potential to increase yields, reduce chemical inputs, enhance disease resistance, cut food waste and improve nutritional quality across a range of different crops,” said APPGSTA chairman George Freeman.

He added that the UK is now better positioned to improve global food security, reduce agricultural greenhouse gases, and promote sustainable farming in developing economies such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

“Britain’s scientists and plant breeders now have the chance to help farmers here and overseas produce more from less,” added Mr Freeman.

UK-EU realignment

However, the group cautioned that these “hard-won gains” must not be compromised in the forthcoming UK-EU realignment discussions and any future cross-border Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.

“To secure future innovation and investment, the government must protect the independence of our science-based regulatory framework,” said Mr Freeman.

He added that the UK must retain the freedom to pursue policies that promote food security, sustainability and innovation in our own agri-food system.

The Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC) also cautioned that England may be at risk of losing some of the benefits of the new legislation as a result of the UK-EU reset.

“We must not let the UK-EU deal become a barrier to implementation or threaten the UK’s pro-innovation and pro-science approach to regulation,” said the ABC’s chairman Jon Williams.

Farmed animals

While welcoming progress for plants, the all-party group also urged ministers to activate the act’s farmed animal provisions without delay.

Advances in precision breeding, APPGSTA added, could significantly transform efforts to combat major livestock disease threats, reducing reliance on antibiotics while enhancing animal health, welfare, and environmental results.

Opposition

However, Beyond GM, which is currently pursuing a judicial review of these regulations, says this is not a “landmark moment for science”.

Pat Thomas, director at Beyond GM, said: “It is a landmark moment for reckless deregulation without transparency or safeguards.

“The Genetic Technology Act is being sold as an innovation breakthrough, but it is built on hype and careless deregulation, not evidence.

“There is no transparency, no labelling and no meaningful environmental or consumer protections written into it,” she added.