Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
APHIS regulations
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provide that a company that plans to import or
field test or sell a new GM plant must first obtain a permit, and that a
permit will be granted if the company provides field test data and other
technical information that convinces the agency that the newGM plant is
not likely to be a plant pest. Yet after finding that many GM plants it had
permitted on this basis did not subsequently exhibit plant pest qualities,
APHIS created a simple “notification” option
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for companies with any
GM versions of several plant species (e.g., corn, soybean, cotton, tomato,
potato, etc.). Under this option, such a company is authorized to field test
after merely notifying the agency that its GM plant meets APHIS crite-
ria and promising that the company will adhere to APHIS performance
standards. The criteria relate to the new genetic material spliced into the
plant genome, such as its stability, and its inability to cause disease in
other plants, harm nontarget organisms, and create a new plant virus.
The performance standards involve controls that confine the new GM
crop to the field test site.
The notification option expedited the field testing of thousands of
newGM plants on the basis of self-certifications and promises about con-
tainment by companies, a situation that has aroused much concern and
criticism of the agency by public interest groups. Because the notifica-
tions are supported by information that companies claim as proprietary,
even if the information is provided to APHIS on its request, it is not gen-
erally available to others who want to evaluate it for its scientific quality.
This lack of transparency frustrates and antagonizes the critics despite
the agency's claim that it deserves trust because of its expertise.
To further facilitate rapid introduction of new GM crops, APHIS
has also provided companies with the opportunity to obtain a “non-
regulated” status for its GM plant if the agency accepts the company's
claim that the plant is similar to another plant that APHIS had ear-
lier determined was not a plant pest. In similar fashion, it also applies
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7 C.F.R.
§
340.
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7 C.F.R.
§
340.3(a).
