Trilogue on GMOs-NGTs : ECVC briefing on patents and sustainability criteria

In the context of the negotiations of the trilogue on the proposal on plant GMOs obtained by new genomic techniques (NGTs), the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) has published a short briefing which covers the most important issues at stake for farmers : patents, detection methods, as well as the question of sustainability criteria, which all remain points of controversy in the debates.

The briefing details the solutions to adress those main issues in the trilogue negotiations. This includes :

- Completing Directive 98/44/CE (articles 8 and 9) to prevent the abusive extension of the scope of patents to seeds and traits obtained by essentially biological processes ;

- Alternatively, making the publication of identification and detection methods mandatory for all NGTs ;

- Adopting provisions to protect farmers in case of accidental contaminations ;

- Establishing a list of evidence-based non-sustainable traits (such as herbicide-tolerance) preventing the plants containing them to access the "NGT 1" category.

The briefing also explain why many solutions on the table will be ineffective to protect farmers and smaller breeders from the harmful effects of this proposal.