USDA biotech regulations on

• Date: November 03, 2009
• Source: www.current.com

U. S. Department of Agriculture’s newly proposed rule governing genetically engineered crops, including food crops engineered to produce pharmaceutical and industrial products came under severe opposition by the Union of concerned scientists. The charge is that the rule does not protect the U. S. food supply from contamination by drugs from “pharma” crops. There seems to be a contamination by way of cross-pollination or seed mixing between pharma food crops and crops intended for consumption.

Recommendations from various like minded organizations such as UCS and Grocery Manufacturers Association to ban outdoor production of pharma food crops have been ignored by USDA. The new proposal also does not offer any incentives for pharma companies to follow already existing safer methods of producing drugs.

USDA has also left a very small window for public participation in its rush to enact this rule into law.