{"id":25333,"date":"2019-08-02T00:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T04:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=25333"},"modified":"2019-08-01T16:59:32","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T20:59:32","slug":"at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/","title":{"rendered":"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (“Editing”) in Certified Organic Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, August 2, 2019)\u00a0Advocates of organic agriculture, including Beyond Pesticides, are sounding a \u201cyellow alert\u201d on the heels of recent comments, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach, before the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research. In his remarks, Mr. Ibach opened the door to consideration of allowing new gene-editing technologies to be permitted under the federal National Organic Program (NOP) and its standards.<\/a> He said, \u201cAs the National Organic Standards Board set the rules originally, GMOs are not eligible to be in the organic program. However, we\u2019ve seen new technology, including gene-editing, that accomplishes things in shorter periods of time than a natural breeding process can. I think there is the opportunity to open the discussion to consider whether it is appropriate for some of these new technologies that include gene-editing to be eligible to be used to enhance organic production and to have drought and disease-resistant varieties, as well as higher-yield varieties available.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Organic Standards<\/a> (NOS), promulgated in 2002 (on the basis of the Organic Foods Production Act<\/a> of 1990) by the National Organic Standards Board<\/a> (NOSB) \u2014 on which Beyond Pesticides Executive Director Jay Feldman sat from 2010 to 2015) \u2014 now prohibit genetically engineered crops in certified organic agriculture. The history of genetic engineering and organics<\/a> goes back to 1990, when USDA proposed an initial, and much-criticized, iteration of a set of rules about organic agriculture; those rules not only permitted genetically bioengineered (GE or GMO) crops, but also, allowed use of sewage sludge and irradiation. After significant public outcry and an historic number of public comments, the final rule proscribed all three.<\/p>\n

In the NOSB Policy and Procedures Manual<\/em>,<\/a> \u201cPrinciples of Organic Production and Handling,\u201d section 1.11, states: \u201cGenetic engineering (recombinant and technology) is a synthetic process designed to control nature at the molecular level, with the potential for unforeseen consequences. As such, it is not compatible with the principles of organic agriculture (either production or handling). Genetically engineered\/modified organisms (GE\/GMOs) and products produced by or through the use of genetic engineering are prohibited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proponents say gene editing is different from the GE processes that have been used widely in non-organic agriculture to date. Those GE techniques typically have employed gene transfer \u2014 moving selected genes for some desirable trait from one plant (or bacteria) species into another. A well-known example is Monsanto\u2019s iconic Roundup Resistant soybean<\/a>: its genetically engineered resistance to the impacts of glyphosate allowed use of the company\u2019s glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup to kill weeds without killing the soybean plant. With wide adoption of the seed, Roundup\u2019s use spiked, as did the inevitable issue of glyphosate resistance<\/a> in the soybean plant itself.<\/p>\n

GE is based on an out-of-date theory of \u201cone gene\u2013one effect\u201d and ignores pleiotropy. Thus, a gene that makes a plant tolerant of glyphosate is assumed not to have other effects that might be important ecologically or nutritionally. Even the effect of herbicide tolerance itself may result in the presence of toxic metabolites of the herbicide in food.<\/p>\n

Gene editing is described as different from gene transfer GE technology. It is described by a National Geographic<\/em> article<\/a> as simply the removal of certain bits of DNA (genes) from a plant cell\u2019s genome \u201cin order to control traits. The cell\u2019s genetic structure then repairs itself automatically, minus the targeted gene.\u201d The changes to the genome made by gene editing are permanent \u2014 they are passed on to the seeds the edited plant will generate. As various new gene editing technologies \u2014 such as TALENs, CRISPR-Cas9, and ZFN<\/a> \u2014 have become available, industry has touted them as the next agricultural revolution, promising outcomes from increased yields, disease resistance, and crops that don\u2019t trigger allergies, to better flavors and nutrition, decreased fat content, and drought resistance, among many potential benefits.<\/p>\n

Last year (2018) saw the entry of the first gene-edited crop in the U.S. \u2014 rapeseed, the seed source of canola oil. The Guardian<\/em> reports that more are coming down the pike<\/a>, including a shelf-stable soybean oil whose oil will contain less saturated fat (from Minnesota-based Calyxt), and an improved variety of waxy corn that is used as a thickener and stabilizer in food products (from Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture division of DowDuPont).<\/p>\n

Federal regulators at USDA have said that because such crops don\u2019t contain \u201cforeign\u201d DNA, they should not require the (already inadequate) regulation and testing required for GMOs. The European Union\u2019s highest court sees it differently: the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in Luxembourg ruled in late July<\/a> that gene-edited crops must be regulated by the same strict rules as are conventional GMOs in Europe. USDA said in June<\/a> that it would not regulate crops whose genetic changes could have been produced with conventional breeding \u2014 those that have been gene-edited. Some scientists consider these processes to be humanly accelerated versions of what can happen through more conventional breeding means, providing some of the rationale for the potential ruling. A different federal agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suggested it might treat all intentionally edited food products as drugs, which could mean far more intensive oversight and regulation.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Beyond Pesticides and other advocates in the organic community are clear: gene editing, for the purposes of regulation of organics, should be included in the definition of genetic engineering<\/a>, and has no place in organic production or in the National Organic Standards. Further, the myriad issues surrounding GE technologies and GMOs \u2014 health and environment impacts, contamination of organic production, resistance, and labeling<\/a>, among others, should be far more seriously addressed, and regulation decisions based on science rather than on benefit to industry.<\/p>\n

In July, Beyond Pesticides wrote in a Daily News Blog entry<\/a>, \u201cAll genetically engineered (GE) organisms \u2014 plants, animals, or microorganisms \u2014 should be subjected to systematic assessments of human and environmental effects and indirect economic effects (such as contamination of organic or non-GE crops leading to rejection in foreign markets, spread of resistant pests, etc.) before being allowed on the market. These assessments must be made available to the public for comment. All products from GE organisms in the marketplace should be labeled as such to allow consumer choice and to permit tracking of unintended health effects. Companies that develop GE organisms should be required to disclose any GE trait, marker genes, or other genetic constructs that might be present in a commercial GE seed product, including traits and genes for obsolete, no-longer-marketed traits. In addition, the definition of genetic engineering should be broad enough to include all the newer genetic engineering techniques, such as RNAi or the new gene-editing technologies (such as CRISPR-cas9, TALEN, ZNF, and meganucleases).\u201d<\/p>\n

Organic agriculture<\/a> is a safe and implementable approach to food production that eliminates many of the risks of chemical and GE farming and food products. The burgeoning popularity of organically grown food<\/a> is no surprise, given all the downsides of the chemical-intensive, monocultural practices of industrial agriculture. To have genuine consumer choice, the public needs to trust what the certified organic label represents<\/a>. As genetically engineered technologies and products proliferate, even absent adequate assessment, protecting the integrity of that organic label is critical<\/a>. During the House Committee on Agriculture\u2019s Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research\u2019s mid-July hearing on assessing the effectiveness of the NOP, the House committe chair, Rep. Stacey Plaskett, said<\/a>, \u201cThe power of the organic seal is in its integrity \u2014 in the trust that consumers place in it. It\u2019s our job here in Washington, both here and at USDA, to ensure we\u2019re safeguarding the integrity of the National Organic Program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Secretary Ibach\u2019s comments portend an alarming violation of that trust and integrity. Stay engaged on this and other developments in organics, biotechnology in agriculture, and the integrity of the organic label through Beyond Pesticides\u2019 Daily News Blog<\/a> and journal, Pesticides and You<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/em><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.foodingredientsfirst.com\/news\/should-gene-editing-be-part-of-organic-production-usda-opens-debate.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, August 2, 2019)\u00a0Advocates of organic agriculture, including Beyond Pesticides, are sounding a \u201cyellow alert\u201d on the heels of recent comments, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach, before the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research. In his remarks, Mr. Ibach opened the door to consideration of allowing new gene-editing technologies to be permitted under the federal National Organic Program (NOP) and its standards. He said, \u201cAs the National Organic Standards Board set the rules originally, GMOs are not eligible to be in the organic program. However, we\u2019ve seen new technology, including gene-editing, that accomplishes things in shorter periods of time than a natural breeding process can. I think there is the opportunity to open the discussion to consider whether it is appropriate for some of these new technologies that include gene-editing to be eligible to be used to enhance organic production and to have drought and disease-resistant varieties, as well as higher-yield varieties available.\u201d The National Organic Standards (NOS), promulgated in 2002 (on the basis of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) \u2014 on which Beyond Pesticides Executive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAt Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering ("Editing") in Certified Organic Food - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering ("Editing") in Certified Organic Food - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, August 2, 2019)\u00a0Advocates of organic agriculture, including Beyond Pesticides, are sounding a \u201cyellow alert\u201d on the heels of recent comments, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach, before the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research. In his remarks, Mr. Ibach opened the door to consideration of allowing new gene-editing technologies to be permitted under the federal National Organic Program (NOP) and its standards. He said, \u201cAs the National Organic Standards Board set the rules originally, GMOs are not eligible to be in the organic program. However, we\u2019ve seen new technology, including gene-editing, that accomplishes things in shorter periods of time than a natural breeding process can. I think there is the opportunity to open the discussion to consider whether it is appropriate for some of these new technologies that include gene-editing to be eligible to be used to enhance organic production and to have drought and disease-resistant varieties, as well as higher-yield varieties available.\u201d The National Organic Standards (NOS), promulgated in 2002 (on the basis of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) \u2014 on which Beyond Pesticides Executive […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-02T04:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\"},\"headline\":\"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (“Editing”) in Certified Organic Food\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-02T04:00:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/\"},\"wordCount\":1351,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/\",\"name\":\"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (\\\"Editing\\\") in Certified Organic Food - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-02T04:00:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg\",\"width\":275,\"height\":183},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (“Editing”) in Certified Organic Food\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"description\":\"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2501,\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"description\":\"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (\"Editing\") in Certified Organic Food - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (\"Editing\") in Certified Organic Food - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","og_description":"(Beyond Pesticides, August 2, 2019)\u00a0Advocates of organic agriculture, including Beyond Pesticides, are sounding a \u201cyellow alert\u201d on the heels of recent comments, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach, before the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research. In his remarks, Mr. Ibach opened the door to consideration of allowing new gene-editing technologies to be permitted under the federal National Organic Program (NOP) and its standards. He said, \u201cAs the National Organic Standards Board set the rules originally, GMOs are not eligible to be in the organic program. However, we\u2019ve seen new technology, including gene-editing, that accomplishes things in shorter periods of time than a natural breeding process can. I think there is the opportunity to open the discussion to consider whether it is appropriate for some of these new technologies that include gene-editing to be eligible to be used to enhance organic production and to have drought and disease-resistant varieties, as well as higher-yield varieties available.\u201d The National Organic Standards (NOS), promulgated in 2002 (on the basis of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) \u2014 on which Beyond Pesticides Executive […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2019-08-02T04:00:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (“Editing”) in Certified Organic Food","datePublished":"2019-08-02T04:00:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/"},"wordCount":1351,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/","name":"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (\"Editing\") in Certified Organic Food - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-02T04:00:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/images.jpg","width":275,"height":183},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/08\/at-congressional-hearing-usda-proposes-allowing-genetic-engineering-editing-in-certified-organic-food\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"At Congressional Hearing, USDA Proposes Allowing Genetic Engineering (“Editing”) in Certified Organic Food"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","description":"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization","name":"Beyond Pesticides","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2501,"caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4","name":"Beyond Pesticides","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"description":"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/"],"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25333"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25376,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25333\/revisions\/25376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}