The Minister of Agriculture and Food, Kiril Vatev, presented Bulgaria's position on the proposal for a Regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (NGT) and their food and feed during a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels. He informed that the position of Bulgaria was "abstain", as the political sensitivity on the subject and the public attitude on this issue in the country are taken into account.
The European Commission presented the draft of the regulation on July 5 as part of a legislative package aimed to increase the resilience of EU agriculture and food systems and to promote food security. Monday's Agriculture and Fisheries Council failed to achieve consensus on the regulation.
In front of the media in Brussels, Minister Vatev told that the new genomic techniques should not be viewed as GMO techniques. He expects climate change and market competition to draw the attention of farmers and consumers to the scientific achievements of certain new genomic techniques. "We all want our food to be clean, with a lower content of pesticides, plant protection products and fertilizers, and to be resistant to climate change," Vatev said. He noted that work on the regulation continues, and the market will certainly encourage all agricultural producers and consumers to embrace new genomic techniques, which have already yielded very interesting results as, described in world science.
According to a technology created by researchers Jennifer Daudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2020, the way to treat more than 7,000 hereditary and chronic diseases in humans is being opened, which was not possible until now, Minister Vatev informed. In 2023, a tomato variety created in Japan through gene editing that regulates blood pressure and neural excitability in humans is released. The information on the presented scientific facts has been published in the world famous newsletter "Genetic engineering & Biotechnology".
The EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council today failed to agree on a Council position (Common Approach) on the proposal for a Regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (NGTs) and food and feed thereof. Work on the legislative proposal continues.