Please donate to the legal action "fighting fund"
Beyond GM has announced important news about a significant legal challenge they have just launched – and how you can help make it happen.
What's going on?
In May, the UK government quietly brought in new regulations that fundamentally change how genetically modified organisms are regulated in England. The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025 create a new category of GMOs, called “precision bred organisms” (PBOs), and exempt these from the food and environmental safety requirements of other types of GMOs. This is a sleight of hand that has serious implications for the environment and the food system.
It allows these "precision bred" GMOs to enter the food system and wider environment without labelling, without adequate traceability systems and without any proper safety testing or impact assessments.
Please, if you can, donate to Beyond GM's legal action "fighting fund" today.
See more details below.
Our food system shapes our environment, and we can’t protect either without transparent and truthful information that allows us to make informed choices and take informed actions.
These new Regulations take all that away:
* Consumers have lost the right to know and make choices about genetically modified PBOs in their food.
* Organic and biodynamic farmers and food producers still have a legal obligation to avoid contamination with all GMOs, including PBOs. The new Regulations take away the necessary tools and processes to ensure the integrity of organic and to avoid loss of consumer confidence and trade.
* Artisanal, traditional, natural and geographical indication farmers and food producers will also find it difficult and expensive (if not impracticable) to avoid contamination, risking the integrity of their brands and potential loss of income as well.
* The environment is at risk since all GMOs can interact with wild and fragile ecosystems in unpredictable ways. They can multiply, persist and quickly become dominant.
* Devolved nations Scotland and Wales have explicitly said they don’t want to grow or sell GMOs and yet the Westminster government intends to force unlabelled precision bred GMOs into their markets.
Why Beyond GM is taking legal action
Beyond GM said:
"When democratic processes fail this spectacularly and regulations are pushed through that threaten our food system, environment and basic rights to know what we're eating, legal challenge becomes the only option.
"The regulation of genetically modified organisms – any genetically modified organisms – requires us to set limits, to assess impacts and to work within the law.
"Our legal team at Leigh Day and Matrix Chambers has identified serious potential illegalities in the Genetic Technology Regulations, including breaches of the Human Rights Act, the Aarhus Convention and the Habitats Directive. They have also identified areas of overreach where the regulations go beyond what Parliament has authorised, for instance, preventing any safety testing that could reveal problems with these organisms.
"In light of this, we have sent a pre-action letter to Defra Secretary of State Steve Reed, putting the government on notice that we intend to pursue a judicial review."
What does Beyond GM want to achieve?
Beyond GM explains: "We believe the new regulations should be revoked before they become operational in November 2025, that a full impact assessment should be performed and that a new, more robust and inclusive process should be put in place to rewrite them in a way that is responsive to the needs of citizens and the natural world.
"Legal challenges are expensive and have several stages. We're facing a well-resourced government department with deep pockets and teams of lawyers whose job is to (sometimes) defend the indefensible."
Beyond GM is asking people to donate to the legal action:
"We estimate we need to raise £37,575 in the next 30 days to take us to the next phase of the case and significantly more – circa £100,000 – to cover legal costs and liabilities over the whole of the action. If we don’t reach this first funding goal we are unlikely to be able to continue.
"To make donations easier and to ensure every penny goes straight to our legal team, we are using the CrowdJustice platform.
"Whether you can spare £5 or £500 or more, we are grateful for every donation that brings us closer to transparent, democratic GMO regulation in the UK.
"Thank you. Pat Thomas and Lawrence Woodward"
GMWatch supports the legal action
GMWatch and other concerned groups engaged in good faith with the Westminster government, the farm ministry DEFRA, and the Food Standards Agency, in discussions on the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025, from its inception to implementation.
At every stage we advocated for a rigorous evidence-based approach to assessing the risks of so-called "precision bred" GMOs, as well as calling for transparency and accountability by maintaining traceability and labelling requirements.
These elements are the minimum needed to ensure that public health and the environment are protected and that farmer and consumer choice over whether to grow and eat GMOs is preserved.
But the authorities refused to listen at any point and failed to implement even the most basic safety and transparency measures around these new experimental GMOs. In its reckless moves, which prioritise commercial interests over those of the public, the Westminster government may well have broken national and international law.
That’s why we fully support (though are not involved in) this legal action against the government initiated by Beyond GM.
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