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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On April 6, 2020, 15 United States Senators submitted a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, Sonny Perdue, requesting the use of its authority to assist the biofuels industry’s economic circumstances brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlighting the negative impacts of the pandemic on farmers and producers who will bear the impact of the decrease in consumption, in the letter, the Senators...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requested written stakeholder input on objectives and opportunities leading to research goals and informed product goals to facilitate transformative breakthroughs that enable U.S. agriculture to meet its goal of increasing agricultural production by 40 percent by 2050....

By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 4, 2020, USDA announced that it is now accepting comments on its technical guidelines and science-based methods to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) sources and sinks from the agriculture and forest sectors at the entity-scale. USDA intends to update the technical guidelines based on newly available data and methodologies within the next three years. Interested parties must submit comments on or prior to April 20, 2020....

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On March 4, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in collaboration with EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), launched a new initiative called “Feed Your Mind” to help consumers better understand genetically engineered (GE) foods. Consisting of science-based information, the initiative’s features include a wide range of resources designed to teach consumers, health care professionals, and students...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On January 30, 2020, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) submitted comments to USDA in response to its request for information (RFI) on the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP). A new USDA Rural Development project, HBIIP is designed to expand the availability of domestic ethanol and biodiesel by incentivizing the expansion of sales of renewable fuels. USDA’s RFI solicited information on options for fuel ethanol and...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On February 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a notice requesting comments and feedback on its draft instructions on testing methods under the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (Standard). According to the Standard, which became effective in 2019, with a mandatory compliance date of January 1, 2022, foods that do not contain bioengineered (BE) material do not require label disclosure. USDA’s...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On January 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that it is accepting comments on its proposed revisions to regulations implemented under the Federal Seed Act (FSA). The proposed rule includes revisions to seed labeling, testing, and certification requirements, including new eligibility standards and the recognition of current breeding techniques. Revised FSA regulations would add certain seed species to the...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On January 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the issuance of a Request for Information (RFI) to assist with the creation of its new program called Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP). A USDA Rural Development project, HBIIP is designed to expand the availability of domestic ethanol and biodiesel by incentivizing the expansion of sales of renewable fuels. Requesting feedback from all interested...

On January 9, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) announced the launch of a new website created in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that provides information about actions the federal government is taking to oversee the development of agricultural biotechnology products.  This “one-stop-shop” website was created under the direction of Executive Order...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On January 9, 2020, also in recognition of National Biotechnology Month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the launch of a unified website for biotechnology regulation. Streamlining information about the three agencies in charge of overseeing agriculture biotechnology products, this website comes, in part, to fulfill President Trump’s Executive Order (EO)...