Main topic:
EU agreement on the regulation of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) in agriculture and food systems, aiming to enhance competitiveness, sustainability, and innovation in plant breeding.

Geographical scope:
European Union (EU-27) — EU internal market and regulatory framework, with implications for EU agri-food systems and breeders.

For the EU industrial agri-food actors, the agreement is relevant for the following reasons:

• Regulatory certainty: It clarifies how New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) will be regulated in the EU, reducing legal uncertainty that has constrained R&D, breeding programmes, and investment decisions.

• Faster innovation cycles: A differentiated regulatory approach for certain NGT plants (notably those comparable to conventional breeding) can significantly shorten time-to-market for new crop varieties.

• Competitiveness vis-à-vis global players: Aligns the EU more closely with regulatory approaches already in place in countries such as the US, Canada, Argentina, and parts of Asia, reducing competitive disadvantage for EU-based breeders, seed companies, and downstream agri-food industries.

• Sustainability and input reduction: Enables development of crop varieties with traits relevant to industry needs—e.g., drought tolerance, pest and disease resistance, nutrient-use efficiency—supporting lower pesticide, fertilizer, and water use across value chains.

• Supply chain resilience: Supports a more stable raw material supply for food processors by enabling crops better adapted to climate variability and environmental stress.

• Market and investment signals: Sends a strong signal to investors, technology providers, and industrial actors that the EU is reopening space for biotechnology-driven innovation within its agri-food system.

The target audience

EU agri-food and seed industry stakeholders: plant breeders, seed companies, biotechnology firms, food and feed processors.

Investors and innovation actors: R&D-intensive companies, venture capital, and technology developers.

EU and national policymakers and regulators: ministries, competent authorities, regulatory agencies involved in agriculture, food safety, environment, and innovation.

Farmer organisations and value-chain actors: as downstream users of NGT-derived plant varieties

Public and institutional stakeholders: NGOs, research organisations, and policy analysts monitoring EU food system sustainability and competitiveness.

Magdalena Walczak-Jarosz, Press Officer