Animal Advocacy & Food Transition and 41 other organisations and farmers’ groups, from the animal welfare, environmental and food policy sectors, have written to the European Commission, urging the EU not to weaken the rules governing genetically modified animals.

The coalition warns that new genomic techniques (NGTs) in farmed animals are mostly tied to raising productivity, the same driver behind decades of health and welfare problems. It cautions that even traits presented as improvements, such as hornless cattle or disease resistance, risk adapting animals to poor conditions rather than fixing them. As the letter puts it, “farmed animals should not be genetically modified to better tolerate inadequate systems.”

The message to the Commission is clear. Do not relax the current rules. And if the framework is revised, keep rigorous risk assessment, traceability and labelling in place, in line with the EU precautionary principle.

The joint letter follows a cross-party letter signed by 26 MEPs and led by Tilly Metz, sent to the same Commissioners on 25 June, which warned against copying the plant NGT legislation for the animal sector. It comes as the Commission’s EU Livestock Strategy points to innovation in genetics among the technologies that could lower the sector’s emissions.