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Regulated Food and Feed Products for Great Britain

Guidance on using the Register of Genetically Modified Organisms for Food and Feed Use Authorisations

Introduction

From 1 April 2025, The Food and Feed (Regulated Products) (Amendment, Revocation, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 means that authorisations now come into effect following ministerial decision and are published in the register, rather than statutory instrument. The FSA and FSS official registers are the primary source of information on the regulated products authorised for market in Great Britain (GB). This online register is the register referred to in assimilated EU Regulation No. 1829/2003. It sets out the list of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) permitted for food and feed uses in GB, and detailed information on the terms of the authorisation.

Further information and guidance on the authorisation of GMOs can be found here.

Understanding the register fields

Each entry on the register is listed under a GMO event basis, which specifies the transformation(s) applied to genome of the organism. The organism (or its constituent part) that the GMO event is applied to, is given as the Commodity, which is listed to the right-hand side of the GMO event headline. Selection for the type of commodity is available as a category under the search filters.

Unique ID: This is the unique identification code(s) assigned to the GMO that corresponds with the GMO event(s). This system of GMO identification is based on an internationally recognised registry implemented for GMO traceability measures.

Authorised use: This catalogues the uses covered by the authorisation for the GMO that can be placed on the market for.

Further information on the Product details for the GMO event is offered by clicking the GMO event headline. Information fields contained within the GMO event product details page include:

Authorisation holder: Information pertaining to the authorisation holder as responsible for applying for the authorisation.

Characteristics: Details outlining the trait(s) conferred by the genetic modification.

Detection Method: Outlining the appropriate detection method and where further details for this method can be accessed.

Any specific requirements attributed to the GMO authorisation that might relate to Labelling, Post-market monitoring and Environmental monitoring plan are also detailed where these are available.

Transitional provisions: Where a change has been made, any measures to enable a transition to the new conditions of use.

Status: Status of the authorisation, for example authorised or revoked, and any accompanying notes.

Applies in: The decision for the authorisation of GMOs is a devolved responsibility taken by the countries of Great Britain. Entries on the register contain information specific to authorisations in England, Scotland and Wales. Selection of entries specific only to England, Scotland or Wales is available as a category under the search filters.

Legislation links: A link to any relevant legislation for additional information. This legislation or parts of it may have been revoked by The Food and Feed (Regulated Products) (Amendment, Revocation, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025, but the authorisations themselves are preserved.

As of 1 April 2025, GMO authorisations no longer require renewal after ten years. The expiry date is therefore no longer included in entries in this register. Some authorisations that expired before this date may be listed in the register for information, with their status set to ‘expired’.

Last updated: A summary of the most recent update. This register became the official public register of authorised GMOs permitted for food and feed uses on 1 April 2025, so this date will appear unless an authorisation has been updated more recently.

Status

Entries designated as (withdrawn) in the status field identify those GMO authorisations for which a request has been made to remove authorisation status.

If a GMO authorisation had expired before April 2025, it could still be listed in the register for information, and will be marked as (expired) meaning it is no longer authorised for uses in food and/or feed and for placement on the market. Where there have been transitional withdrawal arrangements applied for adventitious or technically unavoidable presence, these will be specified in the register.

The register enables a free-text search of entries with most effective searches based on the specific named GMO event(s) or Unique ID code(s). It is worth noting that a search for a particular entry from inputting a GMO event or Unique ID code entry can often yield numerous result entries. Please endeavour to scroll through all the results as this may appear as an entry further along the search list.

The option to apply filters is available with the following field criteria:

  • Commodity
  • Status
  • The countries of Great Britain the authorisation applies in

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