The European Union (EU) is expected to approve new rules allowing advanced genetic editing (GE) techniques to be applied to a range of crops, according to an Olive Oil Times report.
If approved, the regulation would bring potential benefits including improved resilience to drought, pests and disease, Olive Oil Times wrote.
Presented by the European Commission (EC), the regulation had been approved by the European Council and a major committee of the European Parliament, the 20 May report said.
Amendments introduced by the Socialist centre-left group were the last obstacle to the new regulation and the final plenary vote appeared to have been unofficially delayed while lawmakers worked to resolve outstanding concerns, Olive Oil Times wrote.
The goal of the new regulation was to improve crop resilience to climate-related impacts by creating a faster pathway for developing resilient plants via GE techniques, according to the report.
If approved as expected, a 24-month grace period would allow the EC to fine-tune operational aspects, the report said.
Full implementation could be in May 2028, when breeders would be able to formally submit their varieties.
New genomic techniques in the First Category (NGT-1) were being deregulated, including more than 20 genetic modifications that could naturally occur in crop varieties or could be obtained through traditional cross-breeding.
While conventional breeding relied on the “lottery” of natural reproduction, NGT-1 allowed direct, targeted changes. This approach could reduce the number of years required to develop new resilient varieties, Olive Oil Times wrote.
“The mutations induced through editing are fundamentally equivalent to natural mutations that already form the biological basis of biodiversity,” Luigi Cattivelli, director of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Center at Italy’s Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), told Olive Oil Times.
Cattivelli cited high-oleic sunflower oil as an example of how genetic modification techniques were already present in daily food production. Developed through traditional mutagenesis, high-oleic sunflower oil contains a higher level of oleic acid, making it more stable during industrial frying.
“This is not about changing nature in some abstract way,” he said. “If you can improve the quality of an oil or reduce the need for chemicals, that is also a form of health and sustainability.”
The goals of NGT-1 development included crops tolerant to water stress, including the ability to withstand the increasing salinity of coastal areas.
By activating genes that make plants more resilient to major diseases or less attractive to pests, NGT-1 could considerably reduce pesticide use and other chemical applications, the report said.
In addition, NGT-1-edited crops could carry healthier fats, with higher oleic acid content or reduced saturated fat.
All NGT-1 varieties would be listed in a public EU database, Olive Oil Times wrote.
The regulation maintained strict control over NGT-2 as this category included complex genetic editing that was not achievable using natural processes.
While approval for traditional genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could add up to 10 years to the development phase, NGT-1 applications could be processed within 90-120 days, as these plants were considered equivalent to those produced by conventional means, the report said.
As a result, costs would be reduced, making NGT-1 development affordable for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as multinational corporations, the report said.
Meanwhile, the EC has opened a call for evidence on Biotech Act II, the second part of the European Biotech Act package, according to a report US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.
Proposed in 2025, the European Biotech Act is a two-part legislative initiative aimed at strengthening EU competitiveness in biotechnology and biomanufacturing and addressing regulatory fragmentation across the single market.
As the second part of the European Biotech Act package, the Biotech Act II broadened the initial package beyond the health scope of Part I to cover industrial biotechnology and bio-manufacturing.
The second act directly addressed the limited market uptake of bio-based products, long investment timelines, single-market fragmentation, and the EU industry's continued reliance on virgin fossil feedstocks, the 21 May report said.
The feedback period is open until 10 June 2026.
