EFSA intends to revise its risk assessment guidelines for NGT animals

Testbiotech criticises wrong approach

February 3, 2025

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) wants to revise its risk assessment guidelines related to the welfare of animals obtained from new genetic engineering (NGTs). According to a recently published EFSA draft opinion, the guidelines need to be updated in particular for environmental risk and criteria related to animal welfare. The EFSA draft opinion is currently undergoing a consultation process. Testbiotech also believes that the existing guidelines need to be updated, but considers the EFSA approach to be incorrect.

Without providing any evidence, EFSA claims that genetic engineering applications in animals are not associated with any new risks. However, the authority has failed to provide an exact definition of ‘new risks’. To provide a meaningful answer to the question of ‘new risks’, EFSA should have first investigated the differences between previously used breeding methods and new genetic engineering. However, the report does not present such an analysis.

EFSA’s flawed approach does not accurately reflect the current state of knowledge: It is shown in many publications that NGT applications in animals are likely to involve both specific risks and additional animal suffering in comparison to conventional animal breeding. This underlines the need for comprehensive regulation of NGT animals.

In this draft opinion, EFSA continues along its earlier misguiding approach in regard to NGT plants. However, this approach is even more dubious in the case of NGT animals: while plants can have a relatively high tolerance threshold for mutations, this does not apply to animals. Small changes can trigger serious diseases such as cancer.

Testbiotech is warning that flawed EFSA opinions may result in wrong political decisions. The misleading or imprecise question regarding ‘new risks’ originally came from the European Commission, which had previously submitted similar questions to EFSA on NGT plants. The inadequate opinions issued by EFSA subsequently led the Commission to present false conclusions to justify its plans for a deregulation of NGT plants.

One reason for the flaws in the recently presented opinion may lie in the composition of the EFSA GMO panel: an analysis conducted by Testbiotech found that many members of the board are too close to the interests of NGT users and the affiliated industry. To prepare its opinion, the authority had already commissioned a report to an expert who is involved in filing patent applications for NGT animals. The draft opinion which has now been published was largely based on the findings of this expert.

Contact:

Christoph Then, info@testbiotech.org, Tel + 49 151 54638040

Further information:

EFSA consultation on NGT animals

Conflicts of interest in the current GMO Panel

EFSA supporting report on NGT animals

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