Administration proposal to overhaul GMO regulations welcomed, but sharp divide on goals

The Obama administration said on July 2 that it would update the way the government regulated genetically modified crops and some other biotechnology products, saying that the nearly 30-year-old system had become outdated and confusing and did not foster public confidence.

“While the current regulatory system for biotechnology products effectively protects the health and the environment, advances in science and technology since 1992 have been altering the product landscape,” John P. Holdren, the White House science adviser, and three other senior White House officials said in a blog post on Thursday.

They said, the complexity of the current system “can make it difficult for the public to understand how the safety of biotechnology products is evaluated, and navigating the regulatory process for these products can be unduly challenging, especially for small companies. ”The administration said it would accept public input and hoped to complete the initial update to the regulatory framework in a year.

The existing system — known as the coordinated framework — was announced in 1986 and updated in 1992, at a time when genetically modified crops were not yet being marketed. The framework parceled out responsibility for regulating crops and some other products made by genetic engineering among three agencies — the Agriculture Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.

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Critics of biotechnology crops have long said that the current system is too lax, and they will no doubt push for tougher regulations.

But some executives in the biotechnology industry and academic scientists have been saying the regulations are unnecessarily tough, making it too costly and too difficult for many academic researchers and small companies to bring genetically engineered crops to market.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: White House Orders Review of Rules for Genetically Modified Crops