b'EUROPEAN UNION ASIAIn 2018 the European Court of Justice basically said targeted mutagenesis andAsia is an important region for vegetable seed import and other commodities, classical transgenic events are the same thing, Ruthner says. So, the situationRuthner says. They are catching up [in terms of publishing drafted policies].today is any product that has been created by genome editing is consideredWhile there are many countries in Asia, the high-level view is looking favorable GMO with the same strict pre-market assessment and approval process. for breeders. For example, Japan and Australia consider products conventional so long Its a process-based, not product-based approach. He says its notas its a small modification like deletion or insertion. In addition, Australia is working surprising because the GMO Act in the EU dates back to 2001 and is basedto future-proof their regulatory framework.on knowledge from the late- to mid-90s. There are many positive developments in southeast Asia such as Philippines, The most recent news, a European Commission-sanctioned studyThailand and Singapore, Ruthner says. Philippines and Singapore recently published discovered positive outcomes. The study said that regulatory frameworkthe draft guidelines with many positive elements and Ruthner looks for other needs to be updated to fit the purpose novel genomic techniques posecountries in that region to follow a similar approach.for farmers and other stakeholders. Right now, its hindering innovation. However, the outlook is less promising in China, India and South Korea. The Spring 2022 public comment period will open as the Commissiondirection overall is still largely unknown but doesnt look like it will be favorable for proposes changes to the dated legislation. breeders. Additionally, Indias proposed guidelines are focusing on the process, not the end product and are quite restrictive.AFRICAOverall, Africa has far fewer developments than much of the world. A small number of countries have begun drafting regulatory policies for NBTs and will likely take cues from other nations once their framework is finalized.Nigeria and Kenya are following a good path [focused on the product, not the process], says Szabolcs Ruthner, International Seed Federation (ISF) regulatoryWHERE affairs manager. We recently got very negative news from South AfricawhichON THE WEBis interesting because South Africa is always kind of pro-technology, pro biotech. Basically, all products from gene editing will be seen as GMOs, so they have to goWatch the full panel discussion, shot live at the American Seed Trade Association CSS and Seed Expo 2021 in Chicago. This special Seed Speaks episode aired Dec. 9 and is available on-demand here:through the same pre-market and safety assessment as biotech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnGPxX9UzQEINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2022SEEDWORLD.COM /71'