We discus legal status of plants obtained using NBT: whether they are to be treated as GMOs or not. The conclusion may have a negative impact on the development of research on them and their practical use. The problem of the application of provisions on GMOs in relation to the products of some of the NBT has been the subject of the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Case C-528/16 – this topic is analyzed in details.

”Bio” technologies are significant for the future prospects and for knowledge based bioeconomy in general. In the article we examine two areas of problems – one connected to the issue of use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge and another – connected to new plant breeding techniques. We examine whether the law is up to date with the developments in the area of biotechnology and if there is a need for legislative changes in these areas. As it turns out, the necessary legislation may be significantly behind the progress of bio-science. Also, we present potential paths for solving such problems.