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3.201. (...) If EFSA [the European Food Safety Authority] concludes that the import tolerance is safe for consumers and does not present an environmental concern, the import tolerance can be granted. (...)

3.202. GMOs for cultivation, and for food and feed use are authorized at the EU level subject the Commission's approval, but EU member States may prohibit or restrict GMOs for cultivation under certain conditions. During the review period, the legal framework for the approval of GMOs was not subject to any change. In 2022, the European Union authorized six GMO crops (two maize, two soybeans, one oilseed rape, and one cotton) and renewed one authorization (cotton), all used for food and animal feed. In total, 19 new authorizations for GMO crops were issued between 2020 and end 2022 and another 7 were renewed, all for food and animal feed. Authorizations are valid for 10 years.

3.203. The European Union requires specific labelling for all food products (imported or locally produced) to be sold in the EU market, including products sold online. (...) Certain food products are subject to additional labelling requirements for safety and transparency reasons, and include GMOs, (...)

3.209. The European Commission is in the process of undertaking an extensive review of existing legislation and regulation on competition. Its Communication on Competition Policy calls for strong and effective competition policy and highlights the role it can play in achieving targets related to green, digital, and resilient single market.

3.238. The Commission has developed new voluntary green public procurement (GPP) criteria for several sectors, including for computers, smartphones, and road transport, to facilitate the uptake of such criteria in tender documentation. Though envisaged by the Circular Economy Action Plan, no mandatory GPP criteria have been introduced so far. Other new projects related to green government procurement include the Farm to Fork Strategy (sustainable food systems) , Level(s) (sustainable building) , and Renovation Wave (renovation of buildings).

3.242. (...) For the European Union, IPRs represent an important factor underpinning both the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its recovery and resilience-building efforts, in particular as they play a key role in incentivizing the knowledge-based and innovation-driven activities necessary for post-pandemic green and digital transitions.

3.243. The ever-growing economic importance of IPRs, both in terms of employment and contribution to GDP, was confirmed in a joint report by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), released in October 2022. (...) For the first time, the report also included data, as subsets of patent and trademark intensive industries, on climate change mitigation technology (CCMT) industries, which contribute 14% of EU GDP and 9.3% of employment with a significant positive trade balance.

Table 3.30 Contribution of IP industries, 2017-19 average
(...)
CCMT [climate change mitigation technology] and green: Share of total direct employment (%): 9.3; Share of total direct and indirect employment (%): n.a.; Share of total GDP (%): 14; Average wage premium compared to non-IPR-intensive industries (%): n.a.; Exports (EUR million): n.a.; Imports (EUR million): n.a.; Trade balance (EUR million): 36539
n.a. Not applicable.
Source: EPO/EUIPO (2022), IPR-intensive Industries and Economic Performance in the European Union – Industry-Level Analysis Report, 4th edition.

3.259. Regarding biotechnological inventions, in July 2017, the Administrative Council of the EPO [European Patent Office] adopted a decision amending relevant rules of the Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention (EPC). The amended rules clarify, inter alia, that "under Article 53(b) EPC, European patents shall not be granted in respect of plants or animals exclusively obtained by means of an essentially biological process" (Rule 28(2)). In the review period, the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal confirmed that, in light of the agreement between and practice of the 38 Contracting States of the EPC (which all exclude the patentability of plants or animals exclusively obtained by means of an essentially biological process), under the Convention, these products should be considered excluded from patentability.

3.266. A EUIPO [European Union Intellectual Property Office] report on Green EU trade marks shows a trend towards use of terms that can be said to be related to the protection of the environment and sustainability in trademark registration, with an increasing share of such filings by non-EU owners. It also shows that SMEs play an important role in bringing "green" goods and services to the marketplace.