The government has announced new laws to support precision breeding technology which, Defra said, will increase food production, reduce costs to farmers and allow drought and disease resistant crops to be grown.
Defra said that by using technologies like gene editing in plants, precision breeding will enable the development of crops that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease, resilient to climate change and more beneficial to the environment.
The measures also aim to reduce the use of pesticides, saving important pollinators that are so vital to our ecosystem and promoting nature recovery.
Speaking at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London, Farming Minister, Daniel Zeichner, said, “This government recognises that food security is national security. That is why today we are introducing legislation to unlock precision breeding to boost Britain’s food security, support nature’s recovery and protect farmers from climate shocks. With these measures, our agriculture sector will be at the forefront of innovation across the world.”
The Soil Association has, however, expressed dismay at the proposed increase in the use of gene technologies.
Soil Association Director of Policy, Brendan Costelloe, said, “We are disappointed with Defra’s commitment to push forward with precision bred organisms (PBOs) in spite of public opinion, and the risks this could pose to our ability to trade organic produce. It is, therefore, vital to both consumer confidence and the organic sector that the right statutory instruments are now put in place ensure full transparency of PBOs with clear labelling to reassure and protect consumer choice, secure the organic and GMO Free sector and protect trade. We are absolutely determined to work with Defra to deliver these reassurances.
“This is critical for the entire organic food sector to maintain the legal standards required and to ensure that the thousands of organic businesses in the UK can trade with Europe and with other countries who have exclusions on Genetically Modified Organisms including PBOs. We must avoid any barriers to consumer choice and trade at all costs – the organic food sector is worth over £3.2 billion.”
The Soil Association is calling for the following to be introduced in the statutory instruments:
- An appropriate, robust notification and registration system for gene-edited products to ensure that only products that meet the requirement of the Precision Bred (Genetic Technologies) Act are being declared as PBOs.
- Mandatory requirements for the identification and traceability of PBO’s in a supply chain – to be appropriate for all supply chains and include requirements when used in breeding and along generations and to enable them to be excluded where specific supply chains, like organic, require it.
- Appropriate risk assessments (to include risks to the environment, biodiversity and animal welfare) of the genetic changes taking place before they can be released or sold as food or feed (with enough information released to enable analysis to be carried out to identify/verify their presence in a product).
- Identification (i.e. labelling) at the point of sale of products containing GE ingredients to enable consumers and supply chains to make a choice of whether to use them or not.
Costelloe said, “Defra’s own public consultation showed that 85 per cent of the public had genuine misgivings about gene-editing and its long-term unforeseen implications and wanted to see clear labelling of any foods containing GE ingredients and robust system of tracing and licensing producers using GE ingredients.”
Defra said that precision bred products have already started to undergo research trials, including tomatoes with high levels of vitamin D and sugar beet that is less reliant on pesticides. The legislation will enable these products to be rolled out across the country. Government is concerned that currently only a few large multinationals can afford to navigate the complex authorisation process required to bring a new product to market. New legislation will simplify this process, making things fairer for SMEs and boosting investment.
Plant breeding currently contributes £1 billion in additional value each year to the UK economy and boosts yields by more than 1 per cent per annum. However, to meet rising challenges in our food system and the environment, Defra said, further innovation is needed, and precision breeding has the potential to add significant additional value.