Plant Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK.
J Sci Food Agric. 2019 Jan 15;99(1):8-12. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.9227. Epub 2018 Aug 19.
The European Commission's assessment and approval process for genetically modified (GM) crops has resulted in only two GM crop varieties being licensed for cultivation in the European Union, one of which has been withdrawn. Unable to define GM crops satisfactorily, the European Commission has fallen back on a definition based on process. The shortcomings of this approach are all too clear as the Commission grapples with the advent of genome editing. This has led to a long and damaging delay in the Commission issuing an opinion on how genome-edited crops should be regulated. At the same time, national bans imposed by member states on GM crops without any evidence of safety concerns have been legalized. The Commission also faces the prospect of assessing an increasing number of GM and genome-edited crops with deliberately altered composition. In this article, the operation of regulations covering GM crops in the European Union and the effect they have had on the development of plant biotechnology are reviewed, while the issues raised by new technologies are discussed. It is argued that there is an urgent need for the European Union to shift its position on plant biotechnology if agriculture is to meet the challenges of coming decades. © 2018 The Author. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
欧盟委员会对转基因（GM）作物的评估和审批程序导致仅批准了两种 GM 作物品种在欧盟种植，其中一种已被撤回。由于无法令人满意地定义 GM 作物，欧盟委员会转而采用基于过程的定义。随着委员会着手处理基因组编辑的出现，这种方法的缺点变得非常明显。这导致委员会就如何监管基因组编辑作物发布意见的过程被长期拖延，并造成了损害。与此同时，成员国在没有任何安全问题证据的情况下对 GM 作物实施的国家禁令已经合法化。委员会还面临着评估越来越多的 GM 和基因组编辑作物的前景，这些作物的成分经过故意改变。本文回顾了欧盟覆盖 GM 作物的法规的运作情况及其对植物生物技术发展的影响，同时讨论了新技术带来的问题。有人认为，如果农业要迎接未来几十年的挑战，欧盟迫切需要改变其在植物生物技术方面的立场。
