EU ja GM-lajikkeet

[Heikki Jokipii]

Tiede-lehdessä 10/2024 Teemu Teeri näki tiettyä toivoa geenieditointikysymyksen käsittelyssä EU:ssa.

Mutta totesi, tarkemmin täsmentämättä, että vielä on monia mutkia matkassa.

Hän ei suoranaisesti viitannut tähän. Mutta minä viittaan. Ja siihen, että on vahvasti väläytelty siinäkin asiassakin "kansallista harkintaa". Joka on luultavasti tehokas keino sabotoida koko juttu. Sekin, luomuväen strategian lisäksi.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Tässä vähän vihjeitä siitä, että Sveitsi ehkä ajaa EU:n ohi geenieditoinnin käyttöönotossa:

Switzerland edges towards embracing gene edited foods

Laajempaan artikkeliin:

CRISPR: Is Switzerland ready to embrace gene editing in agriculture?

Miten tämä on siellä onnistunut:

[After a 20-year moratorium on genetically modified crops], the Swiss parliament asked the government to prepare a draft act for consultation [to introduce] a risk-based approval system for plants and seeds developed using CRISPR technology. This will give an exemption to the GMO ban, permitting trials of plants that have been subjected to genetic engineering techniques, that do not contain foreign genes and that offer added value for agriculture, the environment, and consumers.

Among those likely to participate in the consultation process is the Swiss-based Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), one of the world’s leading institutes in organic agriculture. The organisation is concerned about the potential impact of gene editing on organic farming and is putting together its own official position on the issue.

“We see the potential of gene editing to help to reduce the application of synthetic pesticides in the short term for conventional agriculture,” says Monika Messmer, co-Group Lead of Plant Breeding at FiBL. “However, we are afraid that the overpromising of such fast technical fixes bears the great risk that the important and urgently needed transformation towards more sustainable agricultural and food systems will be further postponed.”

(lihav. HJ)

Eli luomuväki on osittain saatu hyväksymään ratkaisu. Ainakin tavanomaiselle viljelylle. Yksityiskohtia tuosta kuvauksesta kyllä vielä puuttuu. Mutta tuo lihavoimani "risk based" kuulostaa lupaavalta. Geenieditoitu lajike ei olisi etukäteen tavanomaista epäilyttävämpi? Eikä siis geenieditoitujen lajikkeiden rekisteria tarvittaisi?

Muistaa kuitenkin täytyy, että vaikka Sveitsi ei ole EU:n jäsen, se on monin tavoin sen kanssa "naimisissa".

Tämä pitää minusta edelleen paikkansa:

Netin kautta asiaa tarkastellen koko Suomi onkin ollut viime aikoina jopa hämmästyttävän hiljaa geenitekniikasta.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Tätä ei ole vielä tapahtunut:

More than 40 gene-edited crops will be available to European farmers only when the EU deregulates crop biotechnology

This technique is essentially the laboratory version of classical mutation breeding. As is well-known, mutation is a spontaneous or intentional change in one of the genes of a living organism. Nearly 4,000 varieties have been registered worldwide using artificial mutation methods. In gene editing tools like CRISPR or other new genetic engineering methods, no external gene transfer occurs as it does with GMOs. On the contrary, the targeted gene is silenced using temporary DNA-cutting enzymes, which either enhance or diminish its effect—essentially subjecting it to micro-mutation.

In the EU, genotypes developed using this method have, until now, been classified as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the registration processes. Under pressure from various groups, the EU amended its legislation regarding the registration of varieties developed under NGT at the beginning of 2024. Initially, the varieties were grouped into two categories. Varieties improved through gene editing were placed in Category 1 if they had characteristics indistinguishable from classical varieties, and in Category 2 if any differences were detected. The EU tasked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) with making the necessary legal arrangements within this framework. The report published by EFSA in September 2024 is summarized in the table above.

Mistä siis kiikastaa? Tällaisesta:

As can be seen from the table, there is no need for health and environmental tests for [the] registration of varieties belonging to Category 1 developed using the gene-editing method. Additionally, there is no obligation for packaging labels indicating that they were developed using gene editing. Conversely, varieties in Category 2 must undergo health and environmental tests for registration and must also carry a label on their packaging indicating that they were developed using gene editing. What is particularly striking is that none of the varieties in these categories can be used in organic agriculture! It is also worth noting that, within the framework of the Green Deal, the EU aims for 25% of its agriculture to be organic by 2030.

Mutta kuitenkin nyt odotetaan tätä:

It is expected that nearly 40 candidate genotypes awaiting the EFSA report for registration in the EU as of 2024 will soon be available to EU farmers.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Asiantuntijan arvio EU:n tilanteesta:

While comprehensive gene editing liberalization in the European Union still appears distant, individual countries are making research progress

MMM:n sivustolla uusin ja ainoa artikkeli haulla "geenieditointi" on tämä vuodelta 2022:

Kasvintuotanto osana kestävää kulutusta

Jossa tämä tieto on jopa hiukan vanhentunutta:

Kasviin ei siis lisätä toisen lajin geenejä. EU:n tuomioistuimen vuonna 2018 tekemän päätöksen mukaan geenieditoinnilla tuotetut kasvit tulkitaan kuitenkin geneettisesti muunnelluiksi organismeiksi, eli GMO-kasveiksi, joita koskeva säätely on EU-alueella hyvin tiukkaa.

Suomi ei kuulu Nazimi Açıkgözin tarkoittamiin maihin.