Options to Reform the European Union Legislation on GMOs: Scope and Definitions

Dennis Eriksson; René Custers; Karin Edvardsson Björnberg; Sven Ove Hansson; Kai Purnhagen; Matin Qaim; Jörg Romeis; Joachim Schiemann; Stephan Schleissing; Jale Tosun; Richard G F Visser

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.12.002

Options to Reform the European Union Legislation on GMOs: Scope and Definitions

Trends Biotechnol. 2020 Mar;38(3):231-234. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.12.002. Epub 2020 Feb 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 23053 Alnarp, Sweden. Electronic address: dennis.eriksson@slu.se.
² Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Ghent BE-9052, Belgium.
³ Division of Philosophy, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ Division of Philosophy, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁵ Law Group, Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands; Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics, Law School, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany.
⁷ Research Division Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland.
⁸ Institute for Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI), 06484 Quedlinburg, Germany.
⁹ Institute of Technology-Theology-Natural Sciences at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80539 München, Germany.
¹⁰ Institute of Political Science, Heidelberg University, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany; Heidelberg Center for the Environment, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
¹¹ Plant Breeding, Wageningen University & Research, 6700AJ Wageningen, The Netherlands.

PMID: 32059122
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.12.002

Abstract

We discuss options to reform the EU genetically modified organisms (GMO) regulatory framework, make risk assessment and decision-making more consistent with scientific principles, and lay the groundwork for international coherence. The first in a three-part series, this article focuses on reform options related to the scope of the legislation and the GMO definition.

Keywords: EU; GMO; definitions; legislative reform; scope.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Crops, Agricultural / genetics*
European Union
Food, Genetically Modified
Gene Editing / legislation & jurisprudence*
Organisms, Genetically Modified*
Plant Breeding / legislation & jurisprudence
Plant Breeding / methods
Plants, Genetically Modified