USDA REOPENS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ON PROPOSED RULE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2009--The U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will be extending
the public comment period for another 60 days on a proposed rule to
revise existing regulations regarding the importation, interstate
movement and environmental release of certain genetically engineered
(GE) organisms.
“We received more than 15,000 comments during the initial comment
period on our proposed changes to our biotechnology regulations," said
Cindy Smith, administrator of APHIS. "That shows the significance of
this proposal. With today's reopening of the comment period, we ask
the public to give us further feedback on specific aspects of our
proposal. This will help ensure we consider the best possible
information as we move forward in an open and transparent manner with
this very important and high priority rulemaking."
APHIS is extending the public comment period to allow more time for
interested parties to prepare and submit comments. While the public is
invited to comment on any of the provisions outlined in the proposed
rule, APHIS is particularly interested in receiving comments related to
the following areas:
-
The scope of the regulations and which GE organisms should be included or excluded from the proposed regulations;
-
Incorporation of the noxious weed provisions of the Plant Protection Act into the proposed regulations,
-
Elimination
of the notification procedure--a streamlined procedure for authorizing
the importation, interstate movement or environment release of certain
GE organisms--including specific suggestions for protecting against the
introduction of plant pests or noxious weeds while minimizing any
additional burden or delay for applicants and
-
Regulation of
GE crops that produce pharmaceutical and industrial compounds,
including specific suggestions on how to provide appropriate protection
based upon risk.
In some cases commenters identified concerns about
these issues, but did not provide specific suggestions as to how the
proposed rule could be revised to address these concerns. By reopening
the comment period, APHIS intends to gather more specific information
and detailed suggestions regarding these issues. With this extension,
APHIS will consider all comments received on or before March 17, 2009,
including any comments received after the close of the original public
comment period on Nov. 24, 2008, and the date of this notice.
In order to provide additional opportunities for the
public to comment on the proposed rule, APHIS intends to hold one or
more additional public meetings on the proposed rule. The time and
place of the public meeting(s) will be announced in the
Federal Register. APHIS held three public meetings on the proposed rule during the initial comment period.
The proposed rule was originally published on Oct. 9, 2008. Notice of
the extended public comment period is scheduled for publication in the
Jan. 16, 2009,
Federal Register.
Consideration will be given to comments received on or before March
17, 2009. Send two copies of postal or commercial delivery comments to
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0023, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD
20737-1238. Comments can be submitted on the Federal eRulemaking
portal at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0023.
Comments received are posted on the Regulations.gov Web site and also
can be viewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and
Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry
into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
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