Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to reduce regulation on the plant breeding sector.

Precision breeding offers huge potential to transform the plant breeding sector in England. By reducing the regulatory requirements on the use of these plant breeding technologies, it will enable innovative products to be commercialised in years instead of decades.

The secondary legislation needed to implement The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants in England was passed into law on 13 May 2025. Following a six-month implementation period, the new regulatory framework is due to commence on 14 November 2025.

This will unlock the potential benefits for British farmers and consumers, enabling the development of crops that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease, resilient to climate change and more beneficial to the environment.

Furthermore, through consultation across the relevant industries, the development of the first UK Plant Varieties and Seeds Strategy will look to support the UK plant breeding sector in meeting the challenges and opportunities of a changing world, and to maintain and enhance the UK’s global reputation in plant breeding.