While USDA surveyed organic farmers on the economic losses from an unintended presence of GE crops in their product, the agency did not do the same for farmers growing non-engineered, identity-preserved crops, which are marketed as being a specific, traditional genetic variety, the report noted.
“Without including farmers growing identity-preserved crops in addition to those growing organic crops in its survey efforts, USDA is missing key information on the potential economic impacts of unintended mixing,” a report summary said.
The GAO report made recommendations to USDA, including that the Secretary of Agriculture direct the administrator of APHIS to develop a timeline, with milestones and interim steps, for updating its existing regulations to cover GE crops developed with alternative technologies that either do not use plant pests or use plant pests but do not result in plant pest DNA in the crop developed.