Greenpeace has called on the Luxembourg government to develop protocols based on a new open source detection method of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Greenpeace, in collaboration with other associations, certification bodies as well as a large distribution company, announced this morning the development and effective publication of the very first public detection method of a culture genetically modified by genomic editing.

This new research refutes claims made by the biotech industry and some public authorities that GMOs obtained through genome editing, a new form of genetic engineering, are indistinguishable from similar unmodified crops and therefore cannot be regulated.

Greenpeace has called on the Luxembourg government to develop protocols based on this open source detection method in food control in order to prevent illegal contamination of imports by new genetically engineered plants. This new method makes it possible to detect a variety of rapeseed made tolerant to herbicides by genomic editing. According to the NGO, Luxembourg authorities can therefore initiate the necessary controls to prevent this genetically modified crop from illegally entering supply chains in Europe. Until now, EU countries have not been able to test their imports for the presence of this oilseed rape grown in parts of the United States and Canada.

"This is a key step in the protection of European consumers and businesses. The authorities can start to identify unauthorised modified crops. Beekeepers, farmers, breeders as well as food manufacturers will be able to ensure the absence of these new GMOs in their supply chain and thus satisfy consumer demand," said Heike Moldenhauer, European policy adviser for VLOG, a German association of certification bodies opposed to the presence of GMOs in food.

The study was published in the scientific journal Foods after peer review and shows how the test is able to detect SU Canola, a variety of rapeseed designed by the American company Cibus to resist certain herbicides. The Austrian Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), a member of the European Network of Reference Laboratories for GMOs, has validated the method which meets all EU standards.

Two years ago, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on the fact that organisms modified by genomic editing fall under European legislation on GMOs. The Court declared that the exclusion of new GMOs from the regulations would defeat the objective of the legislation and that it would not respect the precautionary principle enshrined in the founding treaties of the EU and at the grassroots of its food safety rules. This new test confirms that European legislation governing GMOs can also be applied to new GMOs produced by genome editing, while maintaining EU food safety standards.

Greenpeace's director of food policy for the EU, Franziska Achterberg, assured: "The EU's highest court has ruled that genomic-edited organisms fall under EU GMO regulations and this is necessary to protect consumers and the environment. Some argue that these crops cannot be detected and, therefore, cannot be subject to existing European regulations.We have shown the opposite: there is no longer any excuse not to apply the safety and labeling requirements to these new GMO". She added: "The European Commission and the Luxembourg government must take up the results of this study in order to develop procedures which will make it possible to identify the products modified by genomic editing".