United States
September 2, 2009

Source: Dow Jones via Meridian Institute Food Security and Ag-Biotech News
Doug Cameron, Dow Jones Newswires

U.S. regulators are speeding up their assessment of new genetically modified (GM) crops following "frustrating" delays in the oversight process, Paul Schickler, head of DuPont's Pioneer Hi-Bred International business, has said in a recent interview. Schickler said that a "bit of uncertainty" had emerged among U.S. regulators. This increased the length of the GM approval process in the U.S. from an average of 18 months to around three years, according to Schickler. Now, "We are getting signals that they've had the message and are speeding up," Schickler said. Cindy Ragin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), commented that reviews of GM seeds are each unique and can be longer or shorter depending on individual circumstances. Schickler said that Pioneer has put more resources into regulatory affairs as part of efforts to introduce six new GM traits between now and 2013. Robb Fraley, Monsanto's chief technology officer, acknowledged in an interview that the costs associated with securing regulatory approval have increased. However, better testing procedures had kept the overall cost of bringing the new GM seeds to market constant, Fraley said. A new trait costs between US$100 million and US$150 million and can take up to 10 years from formulation to launch, according to Fraley. The article says that the large investment required to develop a new GM crop has resulted in a consolidation of the biotech seed sector to around six multinational companies.

The article can be viewed online HERE.

Website: http://www.merid.org/fs-agbiotech

Published: September 7, 2009