Agricultural Progress Anchored on the Newly-signed Executive Order

In June 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the executive order on modernizing the regulatory framework for agricultural biotechnology and its products. This aims to follow the recent recommendations of the Agriculture and Rural Prosperity Task Force in April 2017 to facilitate innovation, ensure coordination across regulatory agencies, and safely enable billions of people across America and the world to reap the benefits from the products of agricultural biotechnology.

Although the executive order did not come with funds attached, the primary benefit of getting this one signed is how it provides the needed coordinated framework among the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration. This will also enable them to review each of their own regulations, and settle any issues among the three agencies.

More importantly, this executive order addresses the global regulatory situation for agricultural biotechnology, putting importance on the trading aspect. It was emphasized that promoting future innovations and improving the competitiveness of the U.S. biotech industry depends on an efficient global trading system that is anchored on science-based regulations.

Visit The White House website to know more about the executive order.