Perdue Lauds Work At WTO to Facilitate Biotech Regulation

Several countries are banding together to address emerging biotechnology efforts via the World Trade Organization (WTO) as they seek to preserve these new tools that hold promise for the future for global agriculture.An October 26 joint communique circulated at the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures by the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay is being hailed by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue.There are expected to be benefits for farmers around the world, Perdue observed. “Precision biotechnologies such as genome editing hold great promise for both farmers and consumers around the world," he said in a statement. "These tools can play a critical role in helping farmers address many of the production challenges they face while improving the quality and nutritional value of foods available to consumers worldwide."Countries call for collaborative, science, risk-based regulatory approach Precision biotechnology techniques are "an essential tool for agricultural innovation," the group wrote, adding new discoveries hold the promise of providing "farmers with access to products that increase productivity while preserving environmental sustainability." The nations pledged to "coordinate efforts to ensure that the regulatory approaches for these techniques, which include gene editing, are scientifically based and internationally harmonized."Regulators should use science- and risk-based approaches "consistent with the protection of human, animal and plant health and the environment" when crafting a regulatory framework to assess new biotechnologies, the group said. "Cooperative work by governments to minimize unnecessary barriers to trade related to the regulatory oversight of products of precision biotechnology, including the exploring of opportunities for regulatory and policy alignment, should be pursued where possible," they argued.