Precision Bred GMO Food and Feed Tracker

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023  and the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025 allow experimental trials of precision bred GMOs in England and their commercial sale throughout the UK. The legislation removes many of the regulatory requirements that apply to other genetically modified organisms (GMOs) – such as safety and risk assessments, traceability and labelling. This loss of key regulatory steps allows biotech developers to bring their creations to market more quickly, but greatly disadvantages citizens and food producers who want to – or in the case of organic legally must – avoid any kind of GMO.

A “marketing notice” is a misleading name since it does not allow the product to be marketed. The notice, submitted by the developer, tells the government that the developer intends to market their crop for feed or food and contains a self-declaration that the organism meets the legal definition of “precision bred” as described in the Genetic Technology Act. Once the declaration is accepted by the government, the organism still needs to be approved for sale as food or feed. This, in turn, depends on passing numerous formal evaluations and being put on the National Variety List (the official register of agricultural and vegetable plant varieties that can be cultivated and sold in the UK) and being given a food and feed authorisation by the Food Standards Agency (a fairly low bar thanks to deregulation). Information about PBO marketing notices is kept on a government register, which isn’t very easy to find and isn’t searchable.

We believe that openness and accountability are the foundation of public trust in any new genetic technology. This page compliments our Precision Bred GMO Field Trial Tracker, which monitors GM-PBO experimental releases in England.

It brings together what is known about these marketing notices representing our commitment to greater public visibility in a system that otherwise has limited traceability and no labelling. Beyond GM is monitoring these notices to build a clearer picture of what is being approved, who is developing it, and how these products may move through the food chain.

As the number of approved PBOs grows, we will also begin tracking food and feed approvals and where these crops and ingredients are likely to appear – from seed and farming systems through to processing and retail – helping to fill critical gaps in transparency and supporting informed choices for farmers, businesses and the public.