New precision breeding regulations will undermine the rights of farmers, food businesses and consumers, the High Court will hear.
Environmental advocacy group Beyond GM and others have brought a judicial review against the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025, claiming they would allow genetically engineered plants to enter the food system and environment untraced, without safety testing, or labelling.
The group alleged the regulations would leave organic and non-GMO operators without adequate tools to maintain GMO-free supply chains. It also said the act posed a threat to the regulatory status of organic food.
The 2025 act, which only applies in England, provides the practical and technical detail for the implementation of a new regulatory system for precision-bred plants, as set out in the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.
Supporters of the regulations said they would help farmers adapt to climate change and make their plants more resistant to disease.
“Citizens have a legitimate expectation of joined-up and transparent regulation when it comes to food and the environment,” said Beyond GM director Pat Thomas. “The Genetic Technology Regulations were developed in isolation from the realities of organic farming, values-based consumer choice and international trade.”
Beyond GM said the new regulations created a separate framework for the management of precision-bred organisms (PBOs), which does not enforce safety testing, tracing or labelling, making them exempt from environmental damage regulations.
The group added the regulations removed PBOs from existing regulatory frameworks for managing GMOs, essentially deregulating them in England.
“This patchwork approach removes traceability and oversight in one narrow area while ignoring the knock-on effects everywhere else,” Thomas added. “Our case is about restoring coherence and accountability and earning public confidence in how food and environmental risks are governed.”
The group also claimed that the way regulations would function in practice had been left to non-binding guidance not subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
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The judicial review, which is to be heard on 12-13 May, has been brought on several grounds. The act allegedly breaches Article 8 of the Human Rights Act due to a perceived failure to provide the public with adequate information, or consultation, prior to the release of precision-bred organisms into the market and environment.
The claimants also said the act was incompatible with the rights of organic farmers and placed their professional identity and livelihoods at risk.
They further argued the environment secretary did not conduct a full impact assessment of the effect of PBOs on trade, food and environmental systems, and asserted the 2025 act was inconsistent with the purpose of the 2023 act.
“The 2025 regulations have resulted in a significant relaxation of how precision-bred GMOs are regulated, which our clients argue has far-reaching implications,” said Leigh Day solicitor Julia Eriksen, representing Beyond GM. “Our clients feel that the relaxing of these regulations, which also include the removal of safety testing requirements, could have a major negative impact on the organic agriculture industry.
“It could also cause significant trade issues with the EU, where there is currently no regulatory distinction between PBOs and GMOs.”
Defra did not respond to request for comment, asserting it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
The government has invested up to £15m in genetics innovation through its flagship crop Genetic Improvement Networks programme and has announced a £12.5m competition focused specifically on precision breeding in agricultural and horticultural crops under the Farming Innovation Programme.
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