USDA to speed review of genetically modified seeds

Seed companies "will get speedier regulatory reviews of their genetically modified crops under forthcoming rule changes" by the Department of Agriculture, Jack Kaskey reports for Bloomberg News after interviewing Michael Gregoire, a deputy administrator for USDA. "Approvals that took six months in the 1990s have lengthened because of increased public interest, more legal challenges and the advent of national organic food standards, Gregoire said. U.S. farmers worry they may be disadvantaged as countries such as Brazil approve new technologies faster, said Steve Censky, chief executive officer of the American Soybean Association."

USDA plans to invite public comments "as soon as seed developers such as Monsanto file a complete petition for deregulation of a biotech crop, rather than waiting until the end of the review," Kaskey reports. "The Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based non-profit group that has successfully challenged approvals of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar-beet and alfalfa crops, said the rule change is aimed at preventing opponents of modified crops from voicing criticism of the agency’s methods." CFS analyst Bill Freese called it "a rubber-stamp system. A real regulatory system will occasionally reject something." (Read more)