Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill was introduced in 2022 to deregulate some GMOs developed using gene editing techniques in England, so that they:

  • no longer require environmental risk assessments before release into the environment, or any monitoring afterwards;
  • are not required to be labelled for consumers when they enter the food chain as food or feed.

The Bill allows regulations to be developed for those exempt GMOs used to produce food and feed (such as GM crops or farm animals). These regulations may or may not provide traceability for exempt GMOs intended to enter the food chain and may or may not require adverse effects of those GMOs used in food production on human and animal health and the environment to be avoided.

Other exempt GM organisms (such as forestry trees, pets or wild animals, including insects) will not be required to have any environmental risk assessment before open release into the environment, and there is no provision to stop, destroy or clean-up such releases if anything goes wrong.

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