[PCA] NEWS: It's Time for a New Biotechnology Law

[Olivia Kwong]

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0727_biotechnology_law_brown.aspx

It's Time for a New Biotechnology Law
Technology, Environment, Environmental Regulation, Global Environment
William Brown, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development
The Brookings Institution

July 27, 2011 --
In a letter dated July 1, 2011, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack 
recently notified Scotts Miracle-Gro, a lawn-care company based in Ohio, 
that it could develop and use a genetically modified (GM) grass without 
review and approval by the Department of Agriculture (DOA). The grass was 
engineered so that Roundup, a Monsanto weed-killer, and related pesticides 
would not hurt it, and lawns with the grass could be kept free of weeds by 
spraying. The position taken in the Secretary's letter, reportedly also 
taken by DOA in a case involving importation of petunias from New Zealand, 
reverses the Department's long-standing position that it has the authority 
to regulate use of any GM plant.

See the link above for the full opinion piece text.