GMOs: authorisation withdrawn for oilseed rape Ms8 × Rf3 × GT73 and sub-combinations Ms8 × GT73 and Rf3 × GT73 — at the request of BASF and Bayer, as the rape was never cultivated in third countries; Decision 2021/1391 with the PCR method and reference materials AOCS 0306-F, 0306-G, 0304-B repealed
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/315, published on 13 February 2026, withdraws the authorisation for products containing, consisting of or produced from genetically modified oilseed rape Ms8 × Rf3 × GT73, Ms8 × GT73 and Rf3 × GT73, and repeals Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1391. The authorisation holders — BASF Agricultural Solutions US LLC and Bayer CropScience — requested this by letter of 3 July 2025, stating that this rape had never been cultivated in third countries and that they do not intend to place it on the market.
- What the 2021 authorisation covered: food and food ingredients (except proteins isolated from seeds), feed, and products for other uses except cultivation, with the unique identifiers ACS-BNØØ5-8 × ACS-BNØØ3-6 × MON-ØØØ73-7, ACS-BNØØ5-8 × MON-ØØØ73-7 and ACS-BNØØ3-6 × MON-ØØØ73-7. The sub-combination Ms8 × Rf3 was not covered by that decision — the applicants excluded it in 2015 because it was already authorised under Decisions 2007/232/EC and 2013/327/EU; Decision 2026/315 does not concern it.
- Traits according to Decision 2021/1391: Ms8 (ACS-BNØØ5-8) — the pat gene (tolerance to glufosinate-ammonium) and barnase (male sterility); Rf3 (ACS-BNØØ3-6) — pat and barstar, which restores fertility after crossing with Ms8; GT73 (MON-ØØØ73-7) — the cp4 epsps and goxv247 genes conferring glyphosate tolerance. In 2016 EFSA could not complete the assessment of protein-rich products for lack of a 28-day toxicity study of the GOXv247 protein; after the study was supplied in 2018, it concluded in 2020 that the rape is as safe as its conventional counterpart.
- Detection method of the repealed decision: event-specific quantitative PCR methods validated for the single events ACS-BNØØ5-8, ACS-BNØØ3-6 and MON-ØØØ73-7 and further verified for the rape with the three stacked events, validated by the EU reference laboratory for GMOs. Reference materials: AOCS 0306-F (Ms8), AOCS 0306-G (Rf3) and AOCS 0304-B (GT73), available from the American Oil Chemists’ Society.
- What the decision does not say: the text contains no transitional provisions and no threshold for adventitious presence — it consists of the withdrawal of the authorisation (Art. 1), the repeal of Decision 2021/1391 (Art. 2) and the addressees (Art. 3). It also records changes of the holders’ names: BASF Agricultural Solutions Seed US LLC has operated as BASF Agricultural Solutions US LLC since 30 September 2024, and Bayer CropScience LP as Bayer CropScience LLC since 1 January 2026. The decision was in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.