USDA seeks comment on proposed updates to list of bioengineered foods

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is inviting comments on plans to change the list of bioengineered foods by adding “sugarcane (Bt insect-resistant varieties)” and amending  “squash (summer)” to “squash (summer, mosaic virus-resistant varieties).

The agency said in a news release that it is inviting public comment on a proposed rule to make two changes to the list in accordance with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (the Standard). 

The Standard requires AMS to develop and update the List to identify Bioengineered products that are approved for production and in commercial production somewhere in the world, the release said. 

The Standard at 7 CFR 66.1 defines bioengineered foods as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through in vitro recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid techniques and for which the modification could not otherwise be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.
A notice announcing the List updates was published in the Federal Register.

 Interested parties have 60 days to comment on the proposed changes and/or recommend foods to add to the List. 

The Proposed Rule was developed based on public comments received from the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR). On July 24, 2020, AMS published an ANPR in the Federal Register seeking public comment on recommendations to update the List (85 FR 44791). The comment period for the ANPR closed on August 24, 2020, and AMS received a total of 17 comments.
More information about the Standard and the List are available on the AMS website.

AMS invites public comment on the proposed updates through September 20, 2022. Comments should be submitted online at www.regulations.gov.