Agricultural Laws & Regulations
‘Major milestone in agriculture’: Nigeria’s just launched genetically modified cowpea could double yields and save the country millions
Nigeria has achieved what looks like a major milestone in the history of agricultural research and development with the official ...
Viewpoint: Why banning neonicotinoids is a well-meaning but misguided strategy to protect bees and other pollinators
Unfortunately there is quite a bit of dis-and misinformation about what harms bees. For instance, [Maine] lawmakers recently passed a ...
Kenya approves disease-resistant GMO cassava
In yet another big win for its smallholder farmers, Kenya has become the first country globally to approve national performance ...
GLP podcast: Mexico’s activist-inspired glyphosate ban; Anti-GMO Twitter bots on the loose; Malaria vaccine coming soon?
Mexico seems determined to ban the weedkiller glyphosate and biotech crops, drawing intense opposition from the country's farmers. Twitter bots ...
In civil disobedience challenge to ongoing GMO ban, Indian farmers’ union illegally provides herbicide-resistant cotton seeds to farmers
Farmers’ union Shetkari Sanghatana has announced that it will provide farmers seeds of the unapproved herbicide tolerant (Ht) Bt cotton ...
Viewpoint: ‘The European Green Deal has been captured by chemophobic activists with no understanding of science’. Here’s how the EU can put sustainability ahead of ideology
After seeing rampant chemophobia and fear-mongering influence the REACH process in the mid-2000s, I set up a satirical blog called ...
Climate adaptive, drought resistant GMO wheat is nearing introduction in Brazil. Might Canada be next?
Bioceres, an Argentine biotech company, has released a genetically modified wheat variety that is both drought-tolerant and resistant to glufosinate-ammonium ...
Long wary of consumer backlash against GMO crops, China is quickly, but quietly, embracing agricultural biotechnology to meet rising food demands and decrease foreign influence
China has long developed higher-yielding varieties of rice and corn through crossbreeding. Nowadays, genetically modified organisms have become increasingly prevalent ...
USDA moves ahead with ‘sweeping reforms’ to biotech animal regulations
USDA is moving ahead with making sweeping reforms to how biotech animals are regulated, according to the first regulatory agenda ...
Zambia’s biosafety authority set to destroy 2,000 tons of GMO seeds in accordance with country’s ban
The [Zambian] National Biosafety Authority (NBA) has seized over 2,000 tonnes of genetically modified (GMO) maize seed. Communications officer Sandra ...
Viewpoint: It’s time to end the innovation-blocking, organic lobby-promoted, biotechnology-regulating Cartagena Protocol
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) is an international agreement developed by governments and environmental organizations opposed to the commercialization ...
Farmers warn Mexico’s GM corn ban will raise food prices
Mexico’s farmer associations are teaming up and pushing back through legal battles in opposition to a presidential decree to ban ...
Viewpoint: Soon-to-be-required bioengineered food label is ‘in the worst traditions of government meddling’
A very bad regulation is coming. Here's the short of it. In 2016 Congress passed the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure ...
Viewpoint: New York’s ‘Birds and Bees Protection Act’ targeting neonicotinoid pesticides doesn’t protect either and would hurt farmers
[Recently,] the New York legislature began advancing the Birds and Bees Protection Act. If it passes both chambers and is ...
Swiss voters ‘overwhelmingly’ reject activist-proposed synthetic pesticide ban, referendum results show
Voters in Switzerland on [June 12] overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have banned the use of artificial pesticides in ...
Viewpoint: While most of Europe remains in thrall of crop biotechnology rejectionism, sustainability promises of CRISPR gene editing may soon lead to ‘political deconstruction’
The European Commission recently published a report on "new genomic techniques," including CRISPR gene editing, which was expected to have major ...
Viewpoint: Why we need to remove ‘politically-motivated regulatory barriers’ hindering genetically modified crop innovation
Genetically modified (GM) organisms and crops have been a feature of food production for over 30 years. Despite extensive science-based ...
Academic study: Minimal safety concerns about off-target mutations should not be used to block gene editing and other sustainability-focused new breeding techniques
For thousands of years, humans have been improving crops to better suit their needs. These enhancements are driven by changes ...
Facing mounting number of glyphosate lawsuits, Bayer offers 5-point plan to address future Roundup weedkiller claims
Bayer has announced [May 27] a series of actions it plans to implement following the denial of the motion to ...
Viewpoint: Organic lobbyists show ‘sheer hypocrisy’ opposing UK emergency authorization of neonicotinoid sugar beet seed treatments — while supporting environmental waiver for ‘acutely toxic’ copper sulfate
The Government was right to make provision for a temporary and limited derogation for the use of the neonicotinoid seed ...
Viewpoint: Getting approval for CRISPR gene edited crops in Europe is proving perilous. Here’s a guide for scientists and politicians
Should genome-editing products be considered genetically modified organisms (GMOs) subject to the same regulations as products derived from transgenesis? There ...
Fast-growing genetically modified salmon arrives in South America, as Brazil approves AquaBounty fish sales
Genetically Modified (GM) salmon producer AquaBounty said [June 1] it has received regulatory approval from Brazil’s National Biosafety Technical Commission ...
Viewpoint: National security and agriculture — Why the US needs a forward-thinking farming blueprint that ‘encourages local produce, livestock raising and meat processing’
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed an ignored truth of the American agriculture system: While the U.S. agricultural system is able to ...
Should food derived from CRISPR gene-edited seeds be labeled as GMO — all but ensuring they will not be adopted? Many EU food retailers say ‘yes’
Leading EU supermarkets such as Aldi, Rewe and Lidl say that all products stemming from new genetic engineering methods such ...
Viewpoint: Mexico’s ‘cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face’ glyphosate ban — Why prohibiting one of the safest herbicides in the world will dramatically increase the use of a demonstrably more harmful alternative
It appears that the proposed Mexican government plan to ban all genetically engineered corn and the widely used herbicide glyphosate ...
Viewpoint: ‘If it’s organic, it’s non-GMO’: Why consumers don’t need this recently introduced ‘irrelevant food label’ on grocery store shelves
While I typically try and shop around labels that are not supportive or have no relation to the actual product ...
In Brexit unwind, England will break this month from restrictive EU gene-edited crop rules, clearing pathway for CRISPR produce and livestock
When Boris Johnson became prime minister of the United Kingdom in 2019, he pledged to “liberate the U.K.’s extraordinary bioscience ...
