The National Academy of Sciences OK's USDA's Scientific Approach to the Regulation of Biotech Crops
Food Insight
NewsBite
March/April 2002
In January 2000 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to examine the department's regulation of crops produced through the use of biotechnology. In February 2002 NAS issued its report, entitled Environmental Effects of Transgenic Plants: The Scope and Adequacy of Regulation.
The report confirms the effectiveness of the efforts of USDA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration—which have worked together for more than 15 years—to provide intensive governmental, academic, and commercial oversight of the more than 30 biotech crops and foods on the market today.
In addition to the report's review of how biotech crops are regulated, it found that crops produced through biotechnology present "no new categories of risk compared to conventional methods of crop improvement." The report also noted that biotech plants might even be safer than conventional varieties that receive no formal scrutiny by regulators.
In the report, the Academy recommended that biotech products continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Although some biotech crops may raise greater potential concerns than others, requiring all biotech crops to go through exactly the same assessment could cause environmental harm by delaying important benefits such as reduced chemical usage and prevention of soil erosion.
When asked about the report, Bruce Chassy, Ph.D., professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Illinois-Champaign stated, "Improvements are always possible, but a reading of the report suggests that we should be confident that regulators are doing a good job."
