This note is not part of the regulations, but is intended to indicate their general effect.

These regulations come into force 28 days after the date of their notification in the Gazette. They amend the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Organisms Not Genetically Modified) Regulations 1998 (the principal regulations). The effect of the amendment is that organisms are not genetically modified organisms for the purposes of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 if they result from mutagenesis that uses chemical or radiation treatments and those treatments were in use on or before 29 July 1998 (which is the date on which the principal regulations came into force). This aims to clarify which treatments result in genetically modified organisms. There is a consequential change to remove the reference to those treatments from regulation 3(1)(b).