The Plant Protection Act provides that the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture may issue regulations "to prevent the introduction of plant pests into the United States or the dissemination of plant pests within the United States." 7 U.S.C. §7711(a). Pursuant to that grant of authority, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) promulgated regulations that presume genetically engineered plants to be "plant pests"—and thus "regulated articles" under the PPA—until APHIS determines otherwise. However, any person may petition APHIS for a determination that a regulated article does not present a plant pest risk and therefore should not be subject to the applicable regulations. APHIS may grant such a petition in whole or in part.
In determining whether to grant nonregulated status to a genetically engineered plant variety, APHIS must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), which requires federal agencies "to the fullest extent possible" to prepare a detailed environmental impact statement (EIS) for "every ... major Federal actio[n] significantly affecting the quality of the human environment." 42 U.S.C. §4332(2)(C). The agency need not complete an EIS if it finds, based on a shorter statement known as an environmental assessment (EA), that the proposed action will not have a significant environmental impact.[2]
"Plant pest" is defined by CFR Title 7 §340.1 as "Any living stage (including active and dormant forms) of insects, mites, nematodes, slugs, snails, protozoa, or other invertebrate animals, bacteria, fungi, other parasitic plants or reproductive parts thereof; viruses; or any organisms similar to or allied with any of the foregoing; or any infectious agents or substances, which can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in or to any plants or parts thereof, or any processed, manufactured, or other products of plants." Thus, if genetic engineering techniques do not include introduction of such material and only include manipulation of the genomic material of the plant itself the modified organization may petition for determination of nonregulated status.
"§340.6 Petition for determination of nonregulated status.
(a) General. Any person may submit to the Administrator, a petition to seek a determination that an article should not be regulated under this part."
Not regulating plant varieties produced by such genetic editing is considered a loophole by some such as Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union.[3][4]
Referencesedit
^McHughen A, Smyth S (2008). "US regulatory system for genetically modified [genetically modified organism (GMO), rDNA or transgenic] crop cultivars". Plant Biotechnology Journal. 6 (1): 2–12. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7652.2007.00300.x. PMID 17956539.
^Andrew Pollack (January 1, 2015). "Scientists Alter Crops With Techniques Outside Regulators' Scope". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2015. 'They are using a technical loophole so that what are clearly genetically engineered crops and organisms are escaping regulation,' said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union.
^Alex Camacho; Allen Van Deynze; Cecilia Chi-Ham & Alan B Bennett (November 7, 2014). "Genetically engineered crops that fly under the US regulatory radar" (letter to the editor). Nature Biotechnology. 32 (11): 1087–1091. doi:10.1038/nbt.3057. PMID 25380439. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
External linksedit
Text of the Plant Protection Act
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plant, protection, part, tooltip, public, united, states, text, statute, relating, plant, pests, noxious, weeds, introduced, 2000, currently, codified, 7701, consolidates, related, responsibilities, that, were, previously, spread, over, various, legislative, s. The Plant Protection Act PPA part of Pub L Tooltip Public Law United States 106 224 text PDF is a US statute relating to plant pests and noxious weeds introduced in 2000 It is currently codified at 7 U S C 7701 et seq It consolidates related responsibilities that were previously spread over various legislative statutes including the Plant Quarantine Act the Federal Plant Pest Act and the Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974 1 Plant Protection ActCitationsPublic lawPub L Tooltip Public Law United States 106 224 text PDF Statutes at Large114 Stat 438CodificationTitles amended7 U S C AgricultureU S C sections created7 U S C 7701 7786U S C sections amended7 U S C ch 104Legislative historyIntroduced in the House as H R 2559 by Larry Combest R TX on July 20 1999Committee consideration by House Committee on AgriculturePassed the House on September 29 1999 Voice vote Passed the Senate on March 23 2000 95 5 Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on June 20 2000United States Supreme Court casesMonsanto Co v Geertson Seed Farms 561 U S 139 2010 Genetically modified plants editQuoted from the introductory paragraphs of Monsanto Co v Geertson Seed Farms The Plant Protection Act provides that the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture may issue regulations to prevent the introduction of plant pests into the United States or the dissemination of plant pests within the United States 7 U S C 7711 a Pursuant to that grant of authority the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service APHIS promulgated regulations that presume genetically engineered plants to be plant pests and thus regulated articles under the PPA until APHIS determines otherwise However any person may petition APHIS for a determination that a regulated article does not present a plant pest risk and therefore should not be subject to the applicable regulations APHIS may grant such a petition in whole or in part In determining whether to grant nonregulated status to a genetically engineered plant variety APHIS must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 NEPA which requires federal agencies to the fullest extent possible to prepare a detailed environmental impact statement EIS for every major Federal actio n significantly affecting the quality of the human environment 42 U S C 4332 2 C The agency need not complete an EIS if it finds based on a shorter statement known as an environmental assessment EA that the proposed action will not have a significant environmental impact 2 Plant pest is defined by CFR Title 7 340 1 as Any living stage including active and dormant forms of insects mites nematodes slugs snails protozoa or other invertebrate animals bacteria fungi other parasitic plants or reproductive parts thereof viruses or any organisms similar to or allied with any of the foregoing or any infectious agents or substances which can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in or to any plants or parts thereof or any processed manufactured or other products of plants Thus if genetic engineering techniques do not include introduction of such material and only include manipulation of the genomic material of the plant itself the modified organization may petition for determination of nonregulated status 340 6 Petition for determination of nonregulated status a General Any person may submit to the Administrator a petition to seek a determination that an article should not be regulated under this part Not regulating plant varieties produced by such genetic editing is considered a loophole by some such as Michael Hansen a senior scientist at Consumers Union 3 4 References edit McHughen A Smyth S 2008 US regulatory system for genetically modified genetically modified organism GMO rDNA or transgenic crop cultivars Plant Biotechnology Journal 6 1 2 12 doi 10 1111 j 1467 7652 2007 00300 x PMID 17956539 Monsanto Co v Geertson Seed Farms 561 U S 139 2010 Andrew Pollack January 1 2015 Scientists Alter Crops With Techniques Outside Regulators Scope The New York Times Retrieved January 2 2015 They are using a technical loophole so that what are clearly genetically engineered crops and organisms are escaping regulation said Michael Hansen a senior scientist at Consumers Union Alex Camacho Allen Van Deynze Cecilia Chi Ham amp Alan B Bennett November 7 2014 Genetically engineered crops that fly under the US regulatory radar letter to the editor Nature Biotechnology 32 11 1087 1091 doi 10 1038 nbt 3057 PMID 25380439 Retrieved January 3 2015 External links editText of the Plant Protection Act nbsp This United States federal legislation article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Plant Protection Act amp oldid 1196206572, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
