Event Date
The European Parliament has approved the landmark EU Regulation on New Genomic Techniques, or NGTs. The vote for final approval came June 17, concluding the legislative process after years of debate.
The new EU Regulation on NGts introduces a paradigm shift in the regulation of genome-edited plants, moving beyond traditional GMO rules toward a criteria-based system.
In this special seminar, our guest speakers discuss, "Designing Genome-Edited Plants Within Regulatory Boundaries: EU NGT Case Studies, CPVO Perspectives and Emerging IP & Licensing Dynamics." It is organized by Giulia Marino in the Department of Plant Sciences. Giulia is an associate professor of Cooperative Extension, chair of the ISHS Temperate Tree Nuts Division and UC ANR Endowed Presidential Chair of Nut Genetics.
Through practical case studies, this seminar will show how genome editing design choices determine regulatory outcomes under the NGT1/NGT2 framework and the NGT1–traditional plants equivalence criteria set forth in the regulation.
It also explores the emerging implications for intellectual property and licensing, alongside perspectives on plant variety protection, including insights from the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), highlighting how new transparency tools and access mechanisms may shape innovation strategies and market dynamics.
The special seminar provides a strategic perspective on navigating plant innovation at the intersection of science, regulation, plant variety protection and IP.
Our guest speakers
Dr. Federico Caruso and Dr. Valentina Predazzi are patent attorneys with strong expertise in genetics, agribiotech, and plant variety protection in Italy and across Europe.
In recent years, they have worked extensively not only on the protection of conventionally bred plant varieties, but also on intellectual property aspects related to new genomic techniques (NGTs) that are currently the subject of important regulatory developments in the European Union. The upcoming regulation is expected to exclude NGT1 plant varieties from existing GMO safety and commercialization restrictions, significantly relaxing the current framework for certain categories of NGT-derived plants.
They have organized several events and webinars involving leading experts, including the President and Vice-President of the Community Plant Variety Office, Francesco Mattina and Nuria Urquía Fernández.
If you are interested, you can find recordings and excerpts from these initiatives on their YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@AgrobioNGT2025
(The December 16 webinar is in English; other videos are from a conference held in Rome in November 2025 and are in Italian, with English subtitles.)