The USDA soon will propose a modernized regulatory framework for agricultural biotechnology, said Undersecretary Greg Ibach on Monday, the third attempt since 2008 to overhaul rules that were written at the dawn of genetic engineering. Ibach told a farm conference that he could not discuss the upcoming proposal but pointed to a statement by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in 2018 that indicated hands-off treatment of gene-edited plants in most cases.
“We are very close to be able to release a set of regulations,” said Ibach, who oversees USDA’s regulatory arm, including plant biotechnology, at the Ag and Food Policy Summit sponsored by Agri-Pulse.
Developers say gene edited crops need little or no regulation because they bring the same results, albeit faster, as traditional plant breeding. USDA’s regulations are aimed at classical biotechnology, which introduces genetic material from an outside source into plants to create desirable traits such as higher yields, pest resistance or drought tolerance.
The long effort began in 2008 with a proposed USDA rule that was withdrawn in 2015. By January 2017, it tried again but in November of that year USDA withdrew the proposed modernization of its “regulate first, analyze later” biotech regulations. The USDA then said in late 2017 that it would seek “the most effective, science-based approach to regulation.”
In early 2018, the USDA said it does not regulate nor did it plan to regulate plants developed through new breeding techniques such as gene editing if the plants could have been developed by traditional breeding techniques so long as they are not plant pests or developed by using plant pests. “With this approach, USDA seeks to allow innovation when there is no risk,” said Perdue.