EPA Releases Final Rule on PIPs Created Using Modern Plant Breeding

On May 25, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a final rule exempting certain classes of plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) created using genetic engineering from registration requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

The updated policy is intended to address new and evolving breeding methods like genome editing by establishing new “derived from sexually compatible”-based exemptions for certain PIPs that result in plant characteristic(s) that could have been created using conventional breeding. However, rather than improving and modernizing the U.S. biotechnology regulatory system, as called for by multiple administrations, EPA’s new rule adds bureaucratic layers of red tape for the development of improved plant varieties created using innovative plant breeding techniques, like genome editing – even though the agency views those products as posing no greater risk than their conventional counterparts.

See ASTA’s media statement for more information.