The European Court of Justice has been considering whether organisms obtained by mutagenesis are exempt from the EU’s Genetically Modified Organisms Directive.

That might sound esoteric or gobbledygook but both pro- and anti-GMO camps are keenly awaiting the outcome as many believe it will determine the legal status in the EU of the “new genetic engineering techniques”.

It almost certainly won’t but it might set the stage – or one of them.

These techniques are usually and erroneously lumped together and called gene (more properly genome) editing; chief of which is the much vaunted – some might say irresponsibly over hyped and promoted – CRISPR-Cas. Together with “synthetic biology” they make up what has been called GMO 2.0 and are seen by proponents and opponents as the future – direction and/or battleground – of genetic engineering in food and farming.

High stakes on all sides

On January 18th the Court’s principal advisor, the Advocate General, published his opinion which created widespread confusion as differing interpretations of his interpretation were promoted by differing experts and interest groups with differing opinions.

Ah, the largely unfathomable fun and games of law where my interpretation matches your interpretation, raises his or her interpretation, sees off all opinions and trumps the game!

It’s the sort of stuff that gives even insiders headaches and turns most other people off; thereby creating further complexity, legal loopholes, political game playing and an increase in the democratic deficit.

Unfortunately, this game is a bit like Jumanji; hiding a load of horrors and a plague of long term consequences which may be good or maybe bad depending on who you are and where you are on the business, food safety, health, food, farming, environment and corporate control spectrum.

Put at its simplest; if the European Court decides that these techniques are GMOs they will be regulated; and if it decides they are not GMOs, they won’t be regulated; and the agro-tech business, loads of academics and researchers (corporate ones, corporate influenced ones and a few non-corporate ones), patent holders and investors will throw a big party and fantasise about the brave, new, unregulated, unmonitored, unlabelled and unaccountable world they will inherit.