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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on March 22, 2024, that it has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) and draft plant pest risk assessment (PPRA) evaluating the potential environmental impacts and plant pest risk that may result from the approval of a petition for nonregulated status for maize developed using genetic engineering for dicamba, glufosinate, quizalofop, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on March 4, 2024, that it received a petition from Bayer U.S.-Crop Science seeking a determination of nonregulated status for maize (corn) event MON 95379 that has been developed using genetic engineering to produce two insecticidal proteins to protect against feeding damage caused by target lepidopteran pests. 89 Fed. Reg. 15542. APHIS is making the petition available for review and...

As reported in our November 16, 2023, blog item, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed on November 15, 2023, five new types of genetic modifications a plant can contain and be exempt from the regulations for the movement of organisms modified or produced through genetic engineering because such modifications could otherwise be achieved through conventional breeding methods. 88 Fed. Reg. 78285. Comments were due December 15,...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed on November 15, 2023, five new types of genetic modifications a plant can contain and be exempt from the regulations for the movement of organisms modified or produced through genetic engineering because such modifications could otherwise be achieved through conventional breeding methods. 88 Fed. Reg. 78285. According to APHIS’s November 14, 2023, press release, the proposed exemptions...

On October 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the availability of a revised draft of the Guide for Submitting Permit Applications for Microorganisms Developed Using Genetic Engineering under 7 CFR Part 340 and a Response to Comments on the first draft of the Guide, published on March 23, 2023. APHIS’s Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) received comments on a range of issues and grouped the comments...

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) published an updated report on August 4, 2023, on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Sustainable, Ecological, Consistent, Uniform, Responsible, Efficient (SECURE) rule. The revisions note that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) five-year Strategic Plan for fiscal years (FY) 2023-2027 states that “one of its objectives is to ensure the safe development of agricultural biotechnology products using a...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the release of its 2022 impact report. The 2022 impact report lists the following biotechnology activities: Fully implemented USDA’s revised biotechnology regulations, which allow APHIS to focus oversight on products that may pose a risk and reduce regulatory burden for developers of organisms that are unlikely to...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on June 27, 2023, that it recently reviewed soybean, tomato, and potato plants modified using genetic engineering. APHIS reviewed the plants to determine whether they presented an increased plant pest risk compared to similar cultivated soybean, tomato, and potato plants: InnerPlant modified two soybean plants and one tomato plant to...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   On April 25, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it published a new five-year strategic plan. According to APHIS, it incorporates input it received from stakeholders on the strategic framework, a summarized version of the plan that it published in June 2022. The plan includes six strategic goals that focus on working to: Protect agriculture from...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on April 10, 2023, that it is inviting public comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment (PPRA). 88 Fed. Reg. 21602. APHIS states that it produced these documents in response to a petition from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. seeking deregulation of a corn variety developed using...