BENEFITS OF REGULATORY HARMONIZATION OF GM CROPS

Genetically modified (GM) crops havea long history of safety and offer
a range of benefits.
The use of genetic engineering to introduce desired
traits into plants was developed more than 25 years ago
and first commercialized in 1994. GM crops offer a rangeof benefits to farmers, consumers and the environmentby expressing traits such as herbicide tolerance, insect
resistance or enhanced product quality. Every GM cropundergoes a thorough safety assessment before being
approved for food, feed or cultivation.
To date, GM crops have been consumed for decades bypeople and animals without a single confirmed healthor safety issue.

Innovation and consistency
Regulatory reviews (safety assessments), based oninternationally accepted, science-based guidelines,
are carried out to ensure product safety for humans,
livestock and the environment. However, someregulatory agencies have diverged from the guidelines
and increased their data requirements from cropdevelopers seeking approvals.
This hinders innovation and creates regulatory
uncertainty with no added safety benefit. More data

does not increase the level of product safety for
consumers or the environment.
After more than 25 years of safe use and numerous
benefits to farmers, consumers and the environment,
it’s time to review and streamline the safety assessment
process for GM crops. In fact, the international
standard (Codex) on which most, if not all, regulatory
systems for GM crops are built clearly states that“where appropriate, the results of a risk assessment
undertaken by other regulatory authorities may be
used to […] avoid the duplication of work.” Building on
this statement and sharing science across geographies
to harmonize global regulations and data requirements
offers a solution to the challenges resulting fromdivergent regulatory requirements and asynchronous
approvals.

It takes an average of 13 years
to get approval for a GM crop –longer than the 12 year average
it takes for new pharmaceutical
medicines(U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance)

Benefits of harmonized data requirements for GM crops:
Regulators:

Consumers:

Farmers:

Developers:• Leverage extensive• Enjoy national and• Expedite farmer• Reduce productexperience of existing
safety assessmentsand data submissions.
• Free governmental

resources to focus
on other areas (e.g.
training, knowledge
sharing and inter/intra
agency collaborations).
• Provide a framework

for emerging
regulatory systems incountries beginning toadopt
GM crops.
• Help achieve theUN Sustainable
Development Goals(SDGs).

local economic
growth and stability
from reductions inproduction costs andincreased yields.
• Benefit from global

food and nutrition
security through lower
food prices and a safe,
stable, food supply.
• Purchase value-added

products, such as
biofortified foods andcrops with extended
shelf life, which canreduce food waste.
• Help to protect theenvironment bychoosing products thatare sustainably grown.

adoption ofsustainable farming
practices that benefit
the environment
and preserve natural
resources, and help
farmers adapt toand mitigate climatechange.
• Increase in income

for rural economies
resulting from yieldincreases.
• Result in a larger

variety of traits
and/or crops beingcommercially available
to farmers.

development costs
and timelines, which
can enable smaller
and public sector
developers to bringdiverse agricultural
innovations to themarketplace.
• Lower cost barriers toworking on new crops
and traits.
• Make product launchtimelines morepredictable, enabling
resource streamlining,patent protection, andbetter deployment/
allocation of resources.