Dear EU-SAGE members,

Recently, the European Commission published its roadmap (https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13119-Legislation-for-plants-produced-by-certain-new-genomic-techniques_en) for a legislative initiative regarding plants produced by certain new genomic techniques (NGTs): targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis. This is a follow-up action based on the findings of the Commission study on NGTs from April 2021.

In this roadmap (or inception impact assessment) two topics are being addressed:

1. What policy elements should be taken into consideration for future legislation.

2. What impacts will need to be assessed to evaluate the potential policy actions.

We would like to highlight that a public consultation was launched to enable anyone to provide their feedback, opinion and ideas on this roadmap. It is a unique opportunity for the scientific community as well to engage, share or reiterate its views and expertise on this topic. We would like to encourage you and your colleagues to respond from your own experience & perspective with the aim to show as many diverse and constructive points of view as possible. The deadline of this consultation is 22nd October.

You might have observed that there are already many responses, which are mainly copy-pasted or translated from pre-written templates. Unfortunately, this shows how certain organisations misuse democratic instruments for public engagement. However, the consultation is not a poll: it is not about the number of responses but the content, so let’s focus on that!

We are currently working on a draft EU-SAGE response that will be send to you next week.

Please do not hesitate to Ten adres pocztowy jest chroniony przed spamowaniem. Aby go zobaczyć, konieczne jest włączenie w przeglądarce obsługi JavaScript. to us in case you have any questions or ideas to share.

Kind regards,

Dirk Inzé and Oana Dima