Seed Traders Negotiate for Lighter Gene Editing Requirements Following EPA Ruling

The United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in May 2023 that it will exempt gene-edited plants from stringent assessment if the changes made to the plant can also be achieved through traditional breeding. But EPA requires confirmatory data as proof that the changes will not pose greater risk, a condition that the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is contesting.

Dr. Margaret Leigh Worthington of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture testified during the June 7, 2023 hearing of the US Senate Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organic Research on behalf of ASTA. “While the goal of EPA's rule is to streamline its regulatory system, it instead stifles innovation by adding bureaucratic layers of red tape for certain plants produced through modern, precision breeding tools, simply based on the method used to create them – despite the fact that the agency views those plants as posing no greater risk than their conventionally-bred counterparts,” her statement read. She added that the requirement will increase the cost and time of delivering improved crop breeds to farmers, and that small- and medium-sized enterprises will not be able to afford the additional cost. These in turn will limit plant breeding innovations to a limited number of companies in the US.

ASTA is also urging for clear, science-based policies and robust research investments to release the full potential of breeding innovation tools to foster more sustainable and secure future for food and agriculture. “While many countries are moving forward with streamlined policies to advance and democratize the use of innovate plant breeding tools like gene editing, the US is falling behind,” their statement read.

For further details, see the ASTA press release and the full testimony of Dr. Worthington.