Old and new GMOs out of control. This is the new recipe proposed by the Trump Administration to boost the biotech industry and domestic agriculture. The most POP(Profit Over People) deregulation, at the expense of public health and the ecosystem. Forty-five thousand new GMOs meanwhile have been authorized in the past 12 months by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
GMOs out of control
On 6.6.19, the US Department for Agriculture (USDA) filed a proposed regulation to reform the regulation of GMOs. (1) With the stated goal of simplifying – indeed, zeroing out – red tape for the biotech industry and facilitating the deliberate release of‘new GMOs‘ into the environment.
The adopted regulatory draft is in its third edition, after two first drafts were rejected by the biotech industry itself. And it effectively eliminates all conditions-authorization, traceability, labeling-to the deliberate release into the environment and use of all GMOs that claim to be ‘free of phytosanitary risk. That is, theoretically harmless to other plants. Based on a ‘risk assessment’ entrusted to the producers themselves, with no more government control (!).
On 11.6.19 Donald Trump, president of the United States, signed an executive order calling on federal agencies (USDA, FDA, EPA) to simplify the‘regulatory maze‘ for the purpose of approving GMOs. And activate international policies that also convince overseas trading partners to let their guard down. Not surprisingly, on 4.6.19 MEP Paolo De Castro had already put the issue on the table at the Agriculture Council in the EU. The TTIP negotiations after all have resumed and do not refer to the precautionary principle, on which European legislation on GMOs is based. This legislation, according to recent ruling of the European Court of Justice, must also be applied to so-called new GMOs.
Monkey business, 45000 new GMOs out of control
The gene-editing (GE, or NBT, New Breeding Techniques) business in the U.S. is fibrillating. APHIS(Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA), the agency responsible for examining records, in the past 12 months has issued
– More than 19,500 permits for the deliberate release of NBTs into the environment on multiple sites. Especially for research and development of new agricultural varieties,
– Nearly 14,000 GE import permits,
– More than 12,000 authorizations for interstate movement of NBT,
– About 1,600 permit denials, due to lack of information.
However, critical positions are not lacking, even in the Far West. Farmers and buyers of organic food fear field contamination of organic crops with GMO crops. Environmentalists also worry about the increasing application of broad-spectrum pesticides, from glyphosate to dicamba, precisely because old and new GMOs are designed to resist them.
Even consumers do not seem so aligned with the desires of the wealthy biotech industry. Emblematic is the case of high oleic oil from NBT soybeans, which producer Calixt presents as ‘deemed non-GMO’ although derived from genetic manipulation of the plant. A fraud worthy of appropriate class action.
Consumer Reports
, a historic U.S. consumer organization, in turn is not soft in its comments. Michael Hansen – PhD, Senior Staff Scientist at the association – points out that the proposed legislation is part of the‘strong deregulatory stance taken by the Trump Administration, which intends to put security assessments in the hands of companies.’ (2) NBT crops for the pharmaceutical sector, moreover, are subject to deregulation based on the hypothetical absence of pest risk,
‘Although these drug-producing GE plants were not harmful to other plants, they could have a huge negative impact on public health. What happens if insulin-producing GE corn contaminates a nearby corn field and ends up in a cereal box? USDA has acknowledged that potential problems may emerge, but is not proposing any oversight‘ (Michael Hansen, Ph.D., Consumer Reports)
However, the proposed GMO deregulation legislation is under public consultation. Until 5.8.19, comments can be posted in the federal eRulemaking portal.
Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo
Notes
1) See Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA,‘Movement of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms,’ at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/06/06/2019-11704/movement-of-certain-genetically-engineered-organisms
(2) See‘The Recently Proposed GMO Rule Change at the USDA is of Grave and Immediate Concern, Not President Trump’s Executive Order‘ on Organic Insider
https://organicinsider.com/newsletter/trumps-ease-gmo-approvals-usda-your-weekly-organic-insider/
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
