EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 39 lin or other medicines produced with the help of biotechnology. These new breeding methods in basi- cally all cases do not use foreign DNA, but species own DNA, and therefore the regulation of such products should in my view be made much easier than products which are produced with regular trans- genesis methods. The products of these new methods will more quickly and more efficiently lead to varieties that are better resistant against pests, and therefore needs less pesticides. But also to varie- ties that have better taste, varieties which need less fertilizers and so on. And that means that with all these innovations, the conventional agriculture is coming closer to organic agriculture. We should not forget that mankind has been altering our crops for the past 12,000 years or so. The modern varieties of tomato, wheat, maize, lettuce and all our other food and feed crops no longer resemble the primitive species from which they originate thousands of years ago. Mankind has been changing all of our crops for the past millennia to suit our needs. The new breeding methods do the same but then in a faster and more efficient manner. One perfect example of the great potential of the new breeding methods is the late blight resistant potato which was developed with the help of cisgenesis. All potato growers, including organic potato growers, are desperate for such late blight resistant varieties, and in the absence of such varieties, potato growers are spray- ing their potato fields about 15 times per season. Unfortunately due to the lack of an EU wide decision on these new meth- ods, this late blight resistant potato stays on the shelf, and potato growers continue to spray their field against late blight. GM VARIETIES ES: Biotechnology and especially GM vari- eties is already for many years a very con- troversial topic in the EU. And although there is no scientific evidence of the nega- tive impact of GM varieties, there is still a lot of opposition against it. Surveys show that many farmers in EU would like to grow GM varieties, and the ban puts them at a disadvantage with other countries in the world. How do you explain this, and what should be done in your view to over- come the opposition against GM varieties? JH: When talking about ‘regular’ biotech- nology and GM varieties, we should never forget that all these products are perfectly safe. Before going on the market, each GM variety has to be tested by the relevant authorities to ensure it safety. The major problem why public acceptance of GM varieties is so low has to do with credibil- ity. The general consumer does not trust INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ES: The interface between plant breeders’ rights and patents and more specifically the patenting of product of essentially biological processed are the subject of many discussions and recently the EU Commission has issued a Clarifying Notice on the topic. Do you think the EU is on the right track with this Notice, and what else needs to be done in this respect? JH: In my view, no one should have the right to patent the natural characteris- tics of plants and products coming from classical plant breeding. In other words, there can be no monopolies on vegetables and fruits. However, because of unclear legislation in the EU, that possibility does exist. Towards the end of 2015, the European Parliament spoke against this practice via a Resolution. And in a recently published Clarifying Notice (see Report on enhancing innovation and eco- nomic development in future European farm management: http://goo.gl/dwKXwH “Each year 100 million tonnes of food in Europe is wasted or thrown away, which amounts to approximately 30-50 per cent of the food produced in the EU, so we need to find ways to bring these numbers down.” — Jan Huitema messages coming from industry and also no longer trusts the messages coming from the politicians. When it comes to countries voting on GM crops, there is a regulatory gridlock in the EU. Some countries such as Austria or Croatia are always voting against, and other countries such as The Netherlands or Finland or always voting in favour. However, there is never a majority in favour or against, leading to a stalemate which does not seem to move, and that is very unfortunate. Let’s hope with the new breeding techniques we can turn the page. It would be good if the press would report more on the numerous benefits and positive impact of biotechnology and GM crops. also European Seed Volume 3, Issue 4), the EU Commission states that it was never the intention to give the possibil- ity to patent natural characteristics of plants and their products coming from classical plant breeding. I was one of the two initiators of the Resolution in the EU Parliament after the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) had agreed to allow patents on natural characteristics of broccoli and tomato. This was done on the basis of the EU Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, adopted in 1998. The EU Commission listened to our call and also came to the conclusion that products coming from essentially bio- logical processes, such as classical plant breeding, should not be patented. Patents on natural characteristics of plants are blocking innovation and are a threat to food security and crop biodiversity. The first battle has been won, now the ball is in the court of the European Patent Office to adapt their guidelines on the basis of this new information. BREXIT ES: In a previous issue of European Seed we have reported on Brexit and the impact it may have on the UK. How do you see the impact of Brexit on EU agri- culture? JH: Well this is hard to say at this point, as we don’t know much about the outcome of the negotiations that will need to take place. It will largely depend on whether the UK can keep access to the EU inter- nal market or not. It is a fact that the UK is a large export market, so this part of the trade from EU to UK may become disrupted. Overall it is a big loss that the UK has decided to step out of the EU. For one because their agriculture was always more open to and has always relied more heavily on science and innovation. As such the UK was a staunch supporter of innovation in agriculture in Brussels and their leaving will be to the detriment of both UK and EU agriculture. Editor's Note: Jan Huitema is a Dutch politician and dairy farmer. He has been a member of the European Parliament for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy representing the Netherlands since July 2014.