Chile Serves as a Key Enabler for Global Plant Breeding Innovations

Chile steps up its regulatory approach for gene-edited products to maintain its position as a hotspot for plant breeding innovations, according to an article at GM Crops and Food.

Chile is known as one of the main global players in seed production for counter-season markets and research and development. It has contributed significantly to augment the seed production shortages in the Northern Hemisphere by its quick development of new hybrids, cultivars, and GM crops. For over 20 years, Chile has produced high-quality GM seeds under stringent field controls for reexport. One of the main contributors to this success is the effective implementation of coexistence between GM and non-GM seed production systems. Regulation of GM seeds has been under the care of Agricultural and Livestock Service of the Ministry of Agriculture.

To continue its status as an enabler for global plant breeding innovation, Chile has adopted a regulatory approach for new plant breeding innovations such as gene editing. Each product of new breeding techniques was assessed case-by-case and only those containing a foreign genetic material were considered as a GMO. Eight NBT products have gone through the consultation process and all were considered non-GMO.

Read more in GM Crops and Food.