European Parliament Releases Draft Report on the Proposal for the Regulation of Plants Obtained from New Genomic Techniques
November 06 2023 - 7:00AM
Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS), a leading agricultural
technology company that develops and licenses plant traits to seed
companies, acknowledged the European Parliament’s draft report on
the European Commission proposal for regulation of plants obtained
from New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). The proposal is a result of a
European Commission study, requested by EU Member States, which
concluded that EU GMO legislation was not fit for purpose in
relation to applications of NGTs in plants. NGTs include a variety
of gene editing techniques leading to genetic changes classed as
targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis.
The proposal describes a category of NGTs producing
modifications that could be obtained in nature or by conventional
breeding. These are determined to be ‘Conventional-like’ and would
be regulated in the same way as conventional varieties. The
proposal was adopted by the EU College of Commissioners at their
meeting on July 5th, 2023 and was passed to the European Parliament
and the Council of the European Union for review.
“We welcome the proposal from the European Commission and the
ambitious goals outlined by the European institutions,” said Tony
Moran, Cibus Senior Vice President of International Development and
Government Affairs. “Europe initiated discussions on these
techniques in 2008 but has since been overtaken by a growing number
of countries that are benefitting through more enabling
legislation. The proposed regulations improve alignment with EU
trading partners and a timely adoption would be a significant boost
for innovators particularly in academia and small and mid-sized
enterprises who are actively developing NGT products that could
contribute to a sustainable EU agri-food system.”
The draft report, published by the European Parliament Committee
on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on 19th October,
represents the first stage of their review and is a significant
step in the passage of the proposal through the EU legislative
procedure.
The draft report recognizes the Commission proposal as a solid
starting point and recommends further improvements to ensure the
best possible usage of the techniques in the EU. These include
clarification of the criteria for conventional-like NGT plants,
freedom of choice for organic farmers to use NGTs plants and
ensuring a science-based verification procedure.
The Committee is aiming to finalise its report by January 2024
ahead of a vote in a plenary session of the European Parliament in
February.
Source: Draft Report from European Parliament ENVI Committee
Rapporteur can be found here via the following link:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ENVI-PR-754658_EN.pdf
About CibusCibus is a leader in gene edited
productivity traits that address critical productivity and
sustainability areas for farmers such as diseases and pests which
the United Nations estimates cost the global economy approximately
$300 billion annually. Cibus is not a seed company. It is a
technology company that develops and licenses traits to leading
seed companies. Cibus’ focus is developing scale, multi-crop traits
in the major global crops such as canola, rice, and soybean. Traits
that can make a real impact in global agricultural productivity.
Cibus is the technology leader in high throughput gene editing
technology with its Trait Machine™ process. It enables Cibus to
develop plant traits precisely and predictably at a fraction of the
time and cost of conventional breeding. Cibus has developed a
pipeline of five productivity traits including important traits for
pod shatter reduction, disease resistance, and weed management. Its
initial traits for pod shatter reduction and weed management are
developed and are in commercial collaborations with leading seed
companies. Its other pipeline traits, including Sclerotinia
resistance, are in advanced greenhouse and field trial stages.
Forward Looking StatementsThis press release
contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of
applicable securities laws, including The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than
statements of present or historical fact included herein, including
statements regarding the benefits of the Act, Cibus’ operational
performance, and Cibus’ strategy, future operations, prospects and
plans, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
may be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,”
“intend”, “expect,” “plan,” “scheduled,” “could,” “would” and
“will,” or the negative of these and similar expressions.
These forward-looking statements are based on the current
expectations and assumptions of Cibus’ management about future
events, which are based on currently available information. These
forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and
uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond
the control of Cibus. There are many factors that could cause
Cibus’ actual results, level of activity, performance or
achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by forward-looking statements, including factors related to: (i)
risks associated with the possible failure to realize certain
anticipated benefits of the transactions contemplated by the merger
(the “Transactions”), including with respect to future financial
and operating results; (ii) the effect of the completion of the
Transactions on Cibus’ business relationships, operating results
and business generally; (iii) the outcome of any litigation related
to the merger agreement or Transactions; (iv) competitive responses
to the Transactions and changes in expected or existing
competition; (v) challenges to Cibus’ intellectual property
protection and unexpected costs associated with defending Cibus’
intellectual property rights; (vi) increased or unanticipated time
and resources required for Cibus’ platform or trait product
development efforts; (vii) Cibus’ reliance on third parties in
connection with its development activities; (viii) Cibus’ ability
to effectively license its productivity traits and sustainable
ingredient products; (ix) the recognition of value in Cibus’
products by farmers, and the ability of farmers and processors to
work effectively with crops containing Cibus’ traits; (x) Cibus’
ability to produce high-quality plants and seeds cost effectively
on a large scale; (xi) Cibus’ need for additional funding to
finance its activities and challenges in obtaining additional
capital on acceptable terms, or at all; (xii) Cibus’ dependence on
distributions from Cibus Global, LLC to pay taxes and cover Cibus’
corporate and overhead expenses; (xiii) regulatory developments
that disfavour or impose significant burdens on gene-editing
processes or products; (xiv) Cibus’ ability to achieve commercial
success; (xv) commodity prices and other market risks facing the
agricultural sector; and (xvi) technological developments that
could render Cibus’ technologies obsolete. In addition to these
factors, other known and unknown risks and uncertainties may
adversely affect such forward-looking statements and cause Cibus’
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual
results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in
any forward-looking statements. In addition, the forward-looking
statements included in this press release represent Cibus’ views as
of the date hereof. Cibus specifically disclaims any obligation to
update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as
required under applicable law. These forward-looking statements
should not be relied upon as representing Cibus’ views as of any
date subsequent to the date hereof.
CIBUS CONTACTS:
Investor RelationsKaren
Troeberktroeber@cibus.com 858-450-2636
Jeff Sonnek – ICRjeff.sonnek@icrinc.com
Media RelationsColin Sanford
colin@bioscribe.com 203-918-4347
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