The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) updated regulations of Plant Incorporated Protectants (PIPs) could have been an opportunity—but instead, impose burdensome requirements on much-needed biotech.
The news: EPA’s final rule regulating PIPs under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) creates such a narrow exemption for pesticidal substances in biotech plants that it's "an exemption in name only," says BIO. The rule also imposes burdensome requirements to demonstrate eligibility.
PIPs “help plants protect themselves,”explains CropLife International. Using biotech like gene editing, researchers can develop crops that produce pesticides “naturally found in other species.”
The problem: EPA’s final rule “inexplicably” holds PIPs produced through biotechnology to a higher standard than those produced via conventional plant breeding, says BIO’s Chief Policy Officer John Murphy, an approach “not supported by science.”
Why it matters: “EPA’s revisions to the PIPs regulations come at a critical time for technology developers and society as we innovate to meet global challenges including strengthening food security and climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience,” continues Murphy.
The bottom line: “EPA had an opportunity to streamline regulations of pesticidal substances in plants and expand exemptions that help bring new, innovative products made with precise gene editing tools to market,” helping to advance a key goal of the Biden administration, says Murphy. Unfortunately, the opportunity could be missed.
Read and share BIO’s full statement.
