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Jun 16, 2017
The American Soybean Association (ASA) submitted comments this week to both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding regulations in response to advances in genetic engineering.
ASA included in comments to USDA that biotechnology is an essential tool in farmers’ quest to produce enough food to meet the needs of 9.7 billion people by 2050, creating the need for a clear, science-based regulatory system in the U.S. as an example and standard for regulatory systems of biotechnology internationally.
While applauding USDA’s efforts to “reduce the burden on regulated entities,” ASA expressed concern that aspects of the rule as proposed will increase the regulatory burden and stifle research and innovation.
Additionally, ASA’s comments to FDA cheered USDA’s proposal to exclude certain genome-editing techniques from requiring pre-market approvals because they are low risk and could be found in nature or achieved through traditional breeding methods.
ASA concluded its support saying, “Technological advancements such as genome editing offer an additional tool to combat threats while also improving sustainability in production agriculture.”
Full comments to USDA and FDA can be found here and here, respectively.
