Evolving Regulatory Landscape for Genome-Edited Plants

New plant breeding innovations, including CRISPR-mediated genome editing, are enhancing the development of new plant varieties, many of which are on the cusp of entering market places internationally. The lack of clear and consistent regulatory policies globally for genome-edited plants, and their products, may limit the adoption and commercialization of these products; In contrast to the positive trends of regulatory agencies in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and the United States, which are at the forefront of a wave of countries that are implementing policies facilitating the development of genome-edited plants, the European Union has adopted a more restrictive approach that considers any new mutagenesis technique developed after 2001 as subject to regulation as genetically modified plants.