Agricultural Laws & Regulations

Sweeping glyphosate-cancer settlement could leave many plaintiffs with just ‘a few thousand dollars’
Monsanto owner Bayer AG is making progress toward a sweeping settlement of thousands of U.S. lawsuits brought by people alleging ...

Philippines’ progress on biotech crop and animal approvals slowed by COVID pandemic
The Philippines is a biotechnology leader in Southeast Asia, highlighted by its co-sponsorship of the International Statement on Agricultural Applications ...

Africa’s biotech acceptance grows as 3 more countries begin cultivating GM crops
Africa leads the progress among the regions of the world in adopting biotech crops by doubling the number of adopting ...

Podcast: COVID killed anti-GMO activism? Environmentalists split over glyphosate; Predatory journal Pokémon hoax
Could the COVID-19 pandemic end anti-GMO activism as we know it? Environmentalists are split over the controversial weedkiller glyphosate; some ...

Battle over 15-year GMO ban extension rages in Peru as farmers breed and cultivate illegal biotech seed
In the midst of a ferocious debate over the future of biotechnology in Latin America, the Peruvian Congress recently extended ...

Non-farming glyphosate weedkiller uses likely harm endangered species, EPA finds
More than 90% of endangered species are “likely to be adversely affected” by use of glyphosate, but mostly through non-agricultural uses, ...

UK doesn’t want to ‘slavishly follow’ Europe’s pesticide, gene-edited crop rules, secretary of state says
Rural industries such as sheep farming are seeking answers as to what Brexit will mean for them. The implications of ...

Europe’s current GM crop rules only ‘partially applicable’ to CRISPR plants, EU Food Safety Authority finds
The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) to assess whether section 4 (hazard identification) and ...

Podcast: Lockdown skeptics are COVID ‘deniers’? Plant burgers don’t cause ‘man boobs.’ GMOs and terrorism
If you oppose lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID, are you a science denier, a covidiot? Potentially dangerous genetically ...

Viewpoint: AquaBounty’s GM salmon slated for 2021 debut, but animal biotech still stymied by byzantine regulation
After 30 years, AquaBounty's genetically engineered (GE) AquAdvantage salmon may be just months away from hitting US grocery stores, making ...

GM Golden Rice commercialization in Philippines ‘far from reality,’ may be delayed until 2023
At a virtual news briefing on [Nov. 23], PhilRice Healthier Rice Project Leader Dr. Renante L. Ordonio said everyone has ...

German Greens compromise on support for CRISPR crops, remain ‘the party of precaution’
The Greens are debating a new policy program .... Many conflicts were resolved in advance, but on the subject of ...

Push to reform EU biotech crop rules gains strength as some environmentalists, public officials endorse gene editing
After two decades as "the center" of GMO skepticism, it seems the EU may be ready to acknowledge the benefits ...

Glyphosate: Deadly ‘poison,’ or biodiversity protection tool? Environmentalists split over controversial weedkiller
.... [A]way from lawsuits and petitions, there are concerns among some opponents of Australia’s invasive weeds that glyphosate – a ...

German Greens’ anti-GMO consensus may ‘shatter’ as 160 scientists urge party to endorse crop gene editing
The carefully organized unity of the Greens [on genetic engineering] is breaking up. The party threatens to relapse into a ...

Viewpoint: USDA’s ‘lax’ gene-editing regulations could hurt consumer acceptance of CRISPR crops
Researchers at North Carolina State University call for a coalition of biotech industry, government and non-government organizations, trade organizations, and ...

Ninth Circuit Court refuses to reexamine lawsuit alleging Enlist Duo herbicide approval violated federal law
Enlist Duo’s registration has survived another legal challenge, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to ...

UK extends license for glyphosate 5 years, will put in place post-Brexit review process
Speaking at the virtual British Crop Production Council (BCPC) 2020 congress, Darren Flynn, head of active substances delivery for the ...

Viewpoint: Climate change threatens our forests. Smarter fire control and sustainable logging can help us fight back
There has been an ongoing debate about the viability of tree planting and forest restoration to fight climate change. But ...

EU needs new guidelines to evaluate environmental impact of gene-drive mosquitoes, food safety officials say
After being mandated by the European Commission, [European Food Safety Authority's] experts on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) published the scientific ...

Podcast: GM salmon coming soon? Food ingredients you can’t pronounce are safe; Monsanto patent lawsuit myths
Monsanto never sued farmers because their fields were accidentally contaminated with the company's GM seed. AquaBounty's genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon ...

Monsanto wrongly sued farmers for patent infringement? Federal courts put down David v Goliath myth for good
Does greedy Monsanto sue small-time farmers for patent infringement because their fields are accidentally contaminated with the company's GM seeds? ...

Golden Rice could illegally make its way to India as country struggles to stay ‘GMO free’
India has traditionally been a ‘no-GMO’ country, a status recently reinforced when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ...

EU defends pro-organic Farm-to-Fork plan against USDA criticism that it will boost global food prices
The EU Farm to Fork Strategy potentially sets up a long-term battle between the U.S. and Europe over farm practices, ...

Australia green lights Bayer’s herbicide-tolerant GM cotton, finding no risk to human health or the environment
Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has issued a license in response to application DIR 173 from Monsanto ...

Viewpoint: How postmodernism birthed Europe’s anti-GMO movement
Tounderstand why Europe is restricting the use of some technologies, while the United States are not following the same path ...

Viewpoint: 3 biotech foods you can’t buy at Costco thanks to anti-GMO activism
The opponents of this method of improving food have been successful in suppressing even the most logical applications ...

Kenya distributes 16.3 metric tons of GM BT insect-resistant cotton seed to farmers, despite ‘deliberate campaign’ against biotech crops
The Kenyan government has given 16.3 metric tonnes of genetically modified cotton seeds to farmers in the eastern region. The ...