Biden Issues Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation

On September 12, the White House issued an Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy (EO). The EO aims to take a “whole-of-government approach to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing towards innovative solutions in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, supply chain resilience, and national and economic security.”

The EO outlines several mandates impactful to the agriculture sector, including: conducting an assessment on “how to use biotechnology and biomanufacturing for food and agriculture innovation”; identifying data sources and gaps critical to agriculture innovation; devising a plan for domestic biomass supply chain and biobased manufacture; and identifying and devising a plan to address regulatory gaps, ambiguity and uncertainty under the Coordinated Framework. ASTA is engaging with relevant federal agencies to better understand how best to provide private sector input in the implementation of the EO.