News

From multinational seed companies to small traditional seed companies, the relationship with intellectual property rights on plants varies. The issue of patentable GMOs/NGTs is exacerbating the problem in Europe and is causing divergences and ambiguities to emerge among certain players in the seed industry. The wave of GMOs/NGTs (new genomic techniques) is promised by US […]

Recently, the European Economic and Social Committee urgently adopted an opinion critical of the Commission’s plan to deregulate new GMOs/NTGs, as part of the mandatory consultation procedure. The European Committee of the Regions has also been consulted, but its opinion has not yet been published. However, in May 2023, this committee issued an opinion on […]

At a conference organized at the European Parliament on October 26, 2023 by Socialist MEP Christophe Clergeau, the French consumer association UFC-Que Choisir, through the voice of Olivier Andrault, was clear : GMOs, whether « classical » or renamed NGT (New Genomic Techniques), must be assessed, labeled, and present real benefits, notably for the end consumer. The position […]

Many additives and vitamins are now produced industrially by micro-organisms, some of them being genetically modified. The applications for authorization consulted by Inf’OGM for the latter are less numerous (122 dossiers out of 723 read) than for enzymes. But these molecules are important to know, as they are increasingly present in human and animal foodstuffs… […]

Inf’OGM has studied over 600 dossiers filed in the European Union for molecules (enzymes, vitamins, additives) produced by micro-organisms, whether genetically modified or not. Among these dossiers, three concern the production of molecules, attempts at synthetic copies of chemical compounds present natively in Stevia. The aim is to produce sweeteners. The three companies, Avansya, Amyris […]

The organisation of European organic food processors and retailers (OPTA) rejects GMOs/NGTs, but sets out conditions for their possible adoption. At the beginning of September, a new player took a stand against the European Commission’s proposal to deregulate “new GMOs“, which it has renamed NGTs : Opta (Organic Processing and Trade Association), the European organisation that […]

Has the European Commission based its proposal to deregulate GMOs/NTGs on « sound science » or on the demands of seed companies ? Documents obtained by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) show that the Commission chose to listen to the companies rather than its own experts at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The EFSA had indeed asked for […]

In the USA, in 2012, the authorities decided for the first time to exempt a GMO from regulatory requirements. It was a vine genetically modified by cisgenesis, one of the new techniques of genetic modification. Since then, nearly a hundred « new » GMOs have been the subject of a similar decision. Paradoxically, a decade after this […]

Between 2005 and 2023, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) received and studied 601 applications for commercial authorization for enzymes produced by micro-organisms. These proteins, capable of catalyzing chemical reactions, play an important role in the food and feed industry. As part of our investigation, Inf’OGM consulted the 601 dossiers : almost half of them are […]