An objective overview of a controversial topic, with a special emphasis on government policies (Congressional Research Service, 2021)
Summary
Agricultural biotechnology refers to a range of tools—including genetic engineering and some conventional breeding techniques—to genetically modify living plants, animals, microbes, and other organisms for agricultural uses (e.g., food, feed, fiber). The term commonly refers to recombinant DNA techniques that introduce desired characteristics into target organisms, predominantly pest and herbicide resistance in crops. It also encompasses a range of new genome editing technologies (e.g., CRISPR-Cas9) that manipulate genetic material at precise locations in the genome. Most genetically engineered (GE) agricultural products are crops—in the United States, the only GE animals currently approved for human consumption are the AquAdvantage salmon and the GalSafe pig.
When foods containing GE ingredients were first introduced in the 1990s, some members of the public called for banning them based on concerns about their potential to harm human health. In terms of the health and safety of the people consuming them, research repeatedly has found no difference between foods developed with and without genetic engineering. Even so, some consumers remain concerned about genetic engineering, citing health, personal preference, environmental, economic, and other objections. As such, the views of the scientific community, consumers, farmers and ranchers, and the organic industry on the safety, utility, and ethics of agricultural biotechnology do not always overlap. Society continues to debate these issues, and numerous advocacy and trade organizations promote various sides of the debate.
In the United States, three federal agencies share responsibility for regulating the products of agricultural biotechnology within a regulatory system established in 1986, known as the Coordinated Framework. Within this framework, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulate the marketing and environmental release of agricultural biotechnology products under statutes that predate the invention of modern biotechnology.
Within the Coordinated Framework, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) each have authorities for aspects of the regulation of agricultural biotechnology products. APHIS authorities derive primarily from the Plant Protection Act (PPA, 7 U.S.C. §7701 et seq.), Animal Health Protection Act (AHPA, 7 U.S.C. §8301 et seq.), and Virus-Serum-Toxin Act (VSTA, 21 U.S.C. §151 et seq.). FSIS authorities derive from the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA, 21 U.S.C. §601 et seq.), Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA, 21 U.S.C. §451 et seq.), and Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA, 21 U.S.C. §1031 et seq.). FDA authorities derive from the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA, 21 U.S.C. §301 et seq.) and Public Health Service Act (PHSA, 42 U.S.C. §201 et seq.). EPA authorities derive from the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. §136 et seq.).
With the enactment of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (P.L. 114-216) in 2016, and the subsequent regulations promulgated by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the United States joined over 60 nations that require some form of GE labeling. Additional voluntary public and private labeling schemes signal to consumers that labeled food products do not contain GE foods or food ingredients, or they are produced with practices that exclude genetic engineering.
Disparate global views, consumer acceptance, and legal requirements with respect to agricultural biotechnology and its products have raised global trade concerns. The United States is a leading cultivator of GE crops, and market access for agricultural biotechnology products is a major U.S. trade objective. While the policies of some global trading partners support access to biotechnology products, other countries’ policies pose a challenge to achieving this objective.
Public debate around agricultural biotechnology includes topics such as its place in the U.S. food system, global food security, global trade, and other matters. Emerging issues that may be of interest to Congress include the ongoing efficacy of the Coordinated Framework; challenges and opportunities of new genetic engineering techniques; the labeling of foods to distinguish between GE and non-GE products; global trade concerns; and potential environmental concerns.
