New IFOAM publication establishes safety and risk assessment protocol for new GMO technologies

The IFOAM Seeds Platform has published the Global Safety & Risk Assessment Protocol for New Genomic Technologies, a new guidance for governments and the private sector for the assessment and regulation of new GMOs (also called NGTs or New Genomic Technologies).

This new and highly disruptive technology is an existential threat to organic and agroecological systems worldwide and poses widespread risks to human health, biodiversity, and environmental stability.

This new Risk Protocol proposes a sound and scientific approach that fills a huge gap in the regulatory landscape and the public understanding of the potential dangers of unintended negative effects of NGTs.

The Risk Protocol calls for the following:

• Public notification of all plans to develop new crops or products developed using NGTs and made known to applicable government authorities as to the intended outcomes posed by the new genome
• Assessment and risk mitigation of unintended consequences of NGTS
• Accessibility of information about new crops or products developed using NGTs to relevant stakeholders for the purposes of detection and analysis through GMO test methods
• Elimination of patents on NGTs, and, instead, recommends the use of plant variety protection to protect intellectual property of the breeder
• Allowance for GMO-free regions, which must be respected by NGT developers who must not undertake their activities in a manner that encroaches on such regions.

The Risk Protocol also calls for mandatory labeling of products developed using NGT so consumers can make informed choices of whether to avoid them. It also calls for monitoring crops and products developed using NGTs for 10 years following release and assigns liability for trespass and material damage or economic losses to the developer of NGT products.

Source: IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements)

The document is available at:
https://www.ifoam.bio/news/new-publication-global-safety-risk-assessment-protocol

Organic & Non-GMO Insights December 2023