Netherlands: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual

This report assesses the agricultural biotechnology sector in the Netherlands, and covers related production, trade, and policies. It includes topics related to genetic engineering and innovative plant, animal, and microbial biotechnologies. On July 5, 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted a new proposal to regulate plants obtained by certain “new genomic techniques (NGTs)” and their use for food and feed. One of the key elements of the proposal is to lift the risk analysis for approval and labeling for the end-consumer of “NGTs” that could also occur naturally. Over the past five years, the Dutch Government position towards the application of “NGTs” has been roughly in line with the content of the current EC proposal. The Dutch Government’s support for the application of “NGTs” is based on the use of these technologies as an important propagation tool for the Dutch plant breeding sector, and a vital technology to improve the sustainability of agricultural production systems.