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The European Union Court's Advocate General's Opinion and new plant breeding techniques

Nature Biotechnology volume 36, pages 573–575 (2018)Cite this article

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To the Editor:

Rapid progress in new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) poses challenges for government agencies seeking to apply existing regulatory frameworks to new products. In the European Union (EU), two decisions to come this year will, it is hoped, provide greater clarity as to whether crops generated using NPBTs should be regulated as genetically modified organisms (GMOs)1,2,3. First, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is expected to reach a decision on the 'mutagenesis exception'4 within Directive 2001/18/EC, which legally defines GMOs5. Second, the European Commission is expected to issue its much-delayed interpretation of whether NPBTs should fall within the scope of GMO-specific legislation6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Law and Governance Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Kai P Purnhagen & Hanna Schebesta

  2. RIKILT Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Esther Kok & Gijs Kleter

  3. Plant Breeding, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Richard G F Visser

  4. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Justus Wesseler

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  1. Kai P Purnhagen
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  5. Richard G F Visser
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  6. Justus Wesseler
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Correspondence to Kai P Purnhagen.

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Purnhagen, K., Kok, E., Kleter, G. et al. The European Union Court's Advocate General's Opinion and new plant breeding techniques. Nat Biotechnol 36, 573–575 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4174

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