Senate Ag Holds Hearing on Agricultural Innovation

On March 12, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing entitled “Agriculture Innovation and the Federal Biotechnology Regulatory Framework.” During the hearing, the Committee heard from a panel of four witnesses about the need for a coherent and cohesive regulatory approach to innovative breeding tools like gene editing in plants and animals. Dr. Wayne Parrott, a plant breeder from the University of Georgia, testified to the Committee about the impact that future regulatory schemes at USDA, FDA, and EPA will have on public sector researchers, and the need for the three agencies to engage with each other and with stakeholders.

Dr. Parrott’s full testimony can be found online here. A recording of the hearing can also be found online at the Committee’s website.