Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
information may be found in Runge and Ryan and in Pew Initiative on Food
and Biotechnology (2001).
After extensively field-testing a GE variety, an applicant may petition
APHIS to deregulate (grant nonregulated status) the variety. If, after extensive
review, APHIS determines that the new variety poses no significant risk to
agriculture or the environment, permission is granted (see box, “Regulatory
Oversight”). As of April 2005, APHIS had received 103 petitions for
deregulation and had granted 63 (figure 4). Thirty-six percent of the released
varieties have herbicide-tolerance traits, 27 percent have insect-resistance
traits, and 17 percent have product-quality traits (figure 5).
Source: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2005.
Figure 4. Petitions for deregulation approved by APHIS, by crop.
Source: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2005.
Figure 5. Petitions for deregulation approved by APHIS, by GE trait.
