On 21 April 2026, the Council of the European Union adopted its first-reading position on the binding Regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (NGT) and their products, amending Regulation (EU) 2017/625. The position, document ST 17037 2025 REV 1 (Position (EU) No 6/2026, interinstitutional file 2023/0226(COD)), was formally entered on the legislative procedure file on 13 July 2026, advancing the dossier toward signature by the Presidents of the European Parliament and of the Council and publication in the Official Journal. The European Parliament approved the Council first-reading text on 17 June 2026, closing the ordinary legislative procedure at first reading.
The act amends the Official Controls Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/625) to extend official controls to NGT plants and their products, and establishes a dedicated authorisation, traceability and labelling regime for plants obtained by targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis. It is one of the most-watched EU agri-food files of the decade, with a Council vote that saw Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia vote against, and Belgium, Bulgaria and Germany abstain.
What the Council position locks in
The Regulation introduces a two-tier system for NGT plants. Category 1 covers plants that could have been obtained by conventional breeding or that occur naturally, subject to a confirmation process and a lighter regime: no GMO authorisation, no risk assessment, no GMO traceability, and a specific NGT mention on the seed label rather than a GMO label. Category 2 covers all other NGT plants and applies the existing GMO framework of Directive 2001/18/EC and Regulations (EC) No 1829/2003 and (EC) No 1830/2003, including pre-market authorisation, EFSA risk assessment, traceability and labelling as "genetically modified".
The Council first-reading text confirms the trilogue provisional agreement of 3 December 2025. It maintains the two-category architecture, fixes the criteria for Category 1 equivalence with conventional plants, and clarifies that plants excluded from Category 1 are automatically classified as Category 2 and subject to GMO obligations. The Official Controls Regulation amendment adds NGT plants to the scope of official controls performed by Member State competent authorities along the agri-food chain, covering import, processing, distribution and the registration of plant reproductive material.
Who is impacted, and what they must do
Seed companies, plant breeders, food and feed manufacturers, importers and operators placing plant-derived products on the EU market are the primary addressees. Concretely, breeders developing new varieties using CRISPR or other site-directed techniques must classify each new plant as Category 1 or Category 2, prepare the corresponding technical dossier, and submit it through the Commission's NGT platform once the Regulation enters into force. Food and feed operators sourcing ingredients derived from NGT plants must verify the status of each input and, for Category 2 inputs, comply with the GMO traceability and labelling rules.
Member State competent authorities must adjust their official control plans to cover NGT plants, train inspectors on the Category 1 confirmation process, and stand up the national IT infrastructure to exchange data with the Commission's NGT information system. National non-food regimes such as Germany's Gentechnikgesetz for environmental release remain applicable alongside the EU regime, so operators active in multiple Member States should track both layers.
Compliance timeline and what comes next
| Step | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Commission proposal | 5 July 2023 | Adopted |
| EP first-reading position | 24 April 2024 | Adopted |
| Council general approach | 14 March 2025 | Adopted |
| Trilogue provisional agreement | 3 December 2025 | Reached |
| Council first-reading position | 21 April 2026 | Adopted |
| EP final approval at first reading | 17 June 2026 | Adopted |
| Procedure file reference updated | 13 July 2026 | Completed |
| Signature by Presidents of EP and Council | Expected in the coming weeks | Pending |
| Publication in the Official Journal | After signature | Pending |
| Entry into force | 20th day after OJ publication | Pending |
Per the Council's public register, the position adopted on 21 April 2026 is documented under document 17037/25, with the consolidated text available in all 24 official EU languages. The Cartagena Protocol on biosafety and the EU's international trade obligations remain a watch point: several NGOs and trading partners have flagged the risk that Category 1 plants, not labelled as GMO in the EU, may still fall under importing countries' GMO regimes.
Take advantage of this real-time watch
Operators should now: (1) audit current and pipeline plant varieties against the Category 1 and Category 2 criteria to flag which products need a GMO-equivalent dossier; (2) brief R&D, regulatory affairs and trade compliance teams on the new official-control obligations and on the timeline to OJ publication; (3) monitor the Commission's NGT platform guidance for the technical dossier template and the Category 1 confirmation process. Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring of EU agri-food files like this one is what Obsidian is built for: the moment a Council, Parliament or Commission text moves, the change is detected, scored and routed to the practitioner who needs it.
