Essay --

There are three regulatory agencies in the United States that manage GE crops: the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) through its Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) Division; The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Health and Human Services’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA). APHIS-BRS protects agriculture and the environment by evaluating genetically-engineered (GE) products that present a potential plant pest risk and supervises field testing. The EPA has responsibility for GE plants that raise pest management or pesticide issues protects the environment and food safety of GE plants that contain pesticidal proteins (the Bacillus thuringiensis delta-endotoxin [Bt]), and FDA assures that food and feed derived from GE plants is safe. The processes that each agency has developed for regulatory review vary according to each agency’s mandate and the intended use of the product (Goldner, Thr o & Radin, 2004). To consider deregulation of a plant product, APHIS-BRS requires submission of data to demonstrate that release of a GE plant into the environment will not present a plant pest risk. The FDA evaluates data on the characteristic components of the food or feed in the form in which the product will be eaten to ensure that new products are safe as the foods that are currently on the market. The other essential economic barrier identified by all participants is overseas regulation. Most of the specialty products have export markets, and the lack of regulatory standardization around the world generates incredible costs, inefficiencies, and worries (Goldner, Thro & Radin, 2004). During the Clinton administration, the top scientists at the FDA included Susan Sech... ...uce exclusive materials or materials with quality traits that set them apart from their competitors and bring a higher price. Good weather, competition, and shifting consumption patterns are beyond the control of the farmer but the quality of plants and seeds and the quality of products are where biotechnology can make a difference (Goldner, Thro & Radin, 2004). References Unknown (June/ July 2001), Continuing the Green Revolution: The corporate assault on the security of the global food supply, Volume 13, Number 4, Retrieved November 22, 2013 and available at: http://www.mit.edu/~thistle/v13/4/food.html Goldner W.R., Thro A.M. & Radin J. W. (November 8-9 2004) Public Research & Regulatory Review of Specialty (Small-Market) Biotechnology-Derived Crops, 2, P. 2 Retrieved November 22, 2013 and available at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/biotech/pdfs/small_mkt.pdf