Overview

This bill aims to simplify the regulation of gene-edited crops and livestock in the UK. It seeks to distinguish between precision-bred organisms, created using techniques that mimic natural processes, and those produced through more extensive genetic modification, subjecting them to different regulatory pathways. This will allow for faster and more efficient development and deployment of new precision-bred agricultural products.

Description

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill seeks to create a new regulatory framework for “precision-bred” organisms. This means that organisms developed using gene-editing techniques mimicking natural processes will be treated differently from those using more extensive genetic modification.

The bill clarifies the definition of "precision breeding" in the UK to exclude certain types of artificial genetic modification. It does this by carefully defining what constitutes a precision-bred organism based on the techniques used to create it. This definition differentiates between precision breeding techniques that mimic natural processes and other genetic modification techniques, providing a legal distinction used to determine the regulatory pathway of different products. Several clauses in the bill (e.g., Clause 1, Clause 4, Clause 11, Clause 18, Clause 22) relate to this definition and make numerous amendments relating to existing legislation such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The bill specifies that several of the regulations under it must undergo the "affirmative procedure". This means both houses of parliament must explicitly approve them.

Government Spending

The bill's financial implications are not explicitly detailed within the provided amendment text. Therefore, the overall effect on UK government spending remains unclear and would require further research to estimate the costs associated with the implementation of the new regulations.

Groups Affected

The bill will significantly affect:

• Farmers: Potentially enabling quicker access to new, improved crop varieties and livestock.
• Biotechnology Companies: Impacting their research, development and commercialization processes for gene-edited products.
• Consumers: May lead to changes in food availability and potentially impact food pricing.
• Environmental Groups: Their concerns around potential environmental risks associated with the use of these technologies will need to be addressed under the new regulations.
• Regulatory bodies: Their work will be significantly affected by the new framework for regulation of genetic technology.

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