European Plant Science Organisation – EPSO

On the ECJ Ruling regarding mutagenesis and the Genetically Modified Organisms Directive

Brussels, 19.2.2019

The European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) considers that the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on organisms obtained by mutagenesis (case C[1]528/16) disregards scientific evidence. The ruling subjects plants obtained by recent mutagenesis techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing to extensive pre-market risk assessment whereas plants produced by older, less precise mutagenesis techniques are exempted. In sharp contrast, there is broad scientific onsensus that unintended DNA alterations produced by genome editing are of the same type but orders of magnitude less frequent than those produced by older methods such as EMS or radiation mutagenesis weiterlesen pdf bei epsoweb.org