USDA Modernizes 30+ Year Old Genetic Engineering Rule
Yesterday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a final rule that updates and modernizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s biotechnology regulations under the Plant Protection Act.
USDA’s previous regulations focused on whether a plant pest was used in the development of a plant using genetic engineering and required a lengthy deregulation process for those plants that did not pose increased pest risk. After 30 years of experience, USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulatory scientists know that simply using a plant pest in the development of a plant does not necessarily cause the plant to pose a risk to plant health. Thus, the final rule puts in place a more efficient process to identify plants that would be subject to regulation, focusing on the properties of the plant rather than on its method of production. APHIS will evaluate plants developed using genetic engineering for plant pest risk under a new process called a regulatory status review, regulating only those that plausibly pose an increased plant pest risk.