Biotech industry angered by USDA turn on genetically engineered alfalfa

The biotechnology industry once saw U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack as one of its most important allies. But his recent move to change the way genetically engineered crops are regulated has angered leading companies. "Vilsack's department is considering restrictions on where biotech alfalfa can be grown," Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports. "The restrictions would protect conventional and organic farmers from having their crops contaminated." Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, executive vice president of food and agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said the implications of the decision were "huge" and upend the U.S. regulatory process.

"The biotech industry and farm groups fear that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will impose similar planting restrictions on future biotech products, including genetically engineered varieties of corn that are now in development," Brasher writes. "In the past, the USDA has permitted unrestricted production of a biotech crop deemed safe for human health and the environment." Genetically engineered crops awaiting approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture include corn designed to make fuel ethanol more efficient, apples that don't brown, peanuts that are disease-resistant and roses with altered colors.

Vilsack has frequently promoted biotechnology to address global food demand but has pleaded publicly for industry to cooperate on the regulation issue, Brasher writes. "The rapid adoption of GE crops has clashed with the rapid expansion of demand for organic and other non-GE products," Vilsack said, referring to genetic engineering, in a Dec. 30 statement. USDA has faced several lawsuits for approving new biotech crops without restrictions, but industry groups say they may sue the agency if it implements the alfalfa restrictions. "Because the agency has lost a couple of court cases in one jurisdiction in California, that should not lead one to believe that the entire regulatory system is vulnerable or that significant changes need to be made to protect the stability" of the approval process, said Jeff Rowe, Pioneer's vice president for biotech affairs. (Read more)