Austria is one of the European countries with the most highly developed and widely established system for GMO-free and organic food production. Under the new EU Regulation on new genomic techniques (NGT), so-called ‘NGT-1 plants’ are treated under EU law in the same way as conventionally bred plants, following an official assessment and confirmation of their status as Category 1 NGT plants. According to the criteria of the EU NGT Regulation, the genetic modifications in NGT plants may also occur naturally or result from conventional breeding. To ensure a scientific, fact-based and open-ended approach to adapting the relevant regulations in Austria, the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK) and for Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (BMASGPK) are funding the NGT-AT study.

AGES and BAB are analysing the potential impacts of NGT-1 plants in Austria until the end of 2027

Through the research project ‘NGT-AT: New Genomic Techniques (NGT) in the Agricultural and Food Sector: Implications of the EU NGT Regulation for Austria’, the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) and the Federal Institute for Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming Issues (BAB) will analyse the potential agronomic, economic and institutional impacts of NGT-1 crops in Austria by the end of 2027. The new EU legal requirements raise particular questions for Austria regarding the safeguarding of organic and GMO-free production, as well as the separation of different production and marketing chains. However, NGT plants may also offer opportunities, such as greater resistance to plant diseases and pests, improved nutritional content, or the targeted or accelerated breeding of drought-tolerant varieties. The background to this is the EU NGT Regulation published in June 2026, which will come into force from mid-July 2028. This means that, under the provisions applicable from July 2028, such NGT-1 plants may also be placed on the market and cultivated in Austria.

Objective: Potential solutions for coexistence

The NGT-AT study is being scientifically analysed by over 30 experts from the fields of agriculture, food safety, GMO analysis, agricultural economics and regulatory control. “The research project centres on the question of how the use – or non-use – of these plants might affect farms, upstream and downstream sectors, and monitoring,” emphasises project leader Alexandra Ribarits from AGES. Particular attention is being paid to the different production systems, especially conventional agriculture and the organic and GMO-free production sectors, which are economically significant in Austria.

For the analysis, a selection of defined farms is being used to examine the challenges and opportunities that arise when individual conventional farms use NGT-1 crops, whilst others do not. Organic farms that currently produce GMO-free and NGT-free crops are also being included in the study. These assumptions serve to investigate possible interactions and allow conclusions to be drawn regarding GMO-free production. “In addition to farm-specific characteristics and key figures, the geographical location of the farms’ own land and the surrounding third-party land was analysed at field level for all farms,” explains BAB agricultural economist Julian Zeilinger.

Based on this data, potential challenges associated with the cultivation of NGT-1 crops are identified, and possible solutions for successful parallel production are examined in depth using qualitative methods. In arable farming, the project team is focusing on coexistence issues between NGT-1 and non-NGT-1 fields of selected crops, such as potatoes, soya, maize and wheat, in the small-scale Weinviertel region. In the dairy farming sector in the Voralpenland region, the project team is focusing on the availability of NGT-1-free feed, forage and, subsequently, milk.

Involvement of relevant stakeholders

Relevant stakeholders across the value chain are being involved in the project to identify key interdependencies such as seed procurement, feed production, storage, transport and marketing. Overall, the project establishes a sound basis for assessing the introduction of NGT-1 crops and their impacts along the value chain. The aim of the research project is to develop practical guidelines and a basis for decision-making – how should the EU regulation be addressed from both a regulatory and practical perspective? To this end, a kick-off event with stakeholders took place on 31 August 2026, at which initial analyses and next steps were presented.

Further information on the research project can be found via the DAFNE link: NGT-AT: New Genomic Technologies (NGT) in the agricultural and food sector: Significance of the EU NGT Regulation for Austria