Category: Department of Agriculture
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APHIS Partially Deregulates GE Sugar Beet Root Crop Production
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced its decision to partially deregulate the Roundup Ready® sugar beets developed by the Monsanto Co. These genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets resist the company’s Roundup Ready® herbicide. A court previously determined that APHIS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by deregulating…
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Meeting Slated for Codex Committee on Fats and Oils
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety have announced a February 9, 2011, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 22nd session of the Codex Committee on…
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USDA Issues 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have released the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, “the federal government’s evidence-based nutritional guidance to promote health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity through improved nutrition and physical activity.” Published every five years,…
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APHIS Updates Avian Influenza Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued an interim rule updating its highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) requirements for importing birds, poultry and hatching eggs. Because APHIS’s previous restrictions applied only to the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza, the new rule extends its purview to include any HPAI…
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USDA Announces Deregulation of Roundup Ready® Alfalfa
In a decision that prompted the promise of an immediate legal challenge, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it will grant nonregulated status to genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. According to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, “After conducting a thorough and transparent examination of alfalfa through a multi-alternative environmental impact statement (EIS) and several…
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USDA Introduces “Biobased” Labels
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule establishing a voluntary labeling program for “biobased” products made from renewable biological ingredients. Part of the USDA BioPreferred Program, which also administers procurement preferences for federal agencies, the labeling initiative applies to those products certified as containing a prescribed amount of renewable plant, animal,…
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Congressional Republicans Unhappy with GE Alfalfa EIS
Three congressional Republicans assert that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has no authority to weigh economic factors in conducting an environmental review for genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Plant Protection Act. In a January 19, 2011, letter submitted to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, they vilify him for…
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NOP Issues Draft Organic Labeling Guidance
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued draft guidance “to address the labeling, composition of and use of percentage statements in ‘made with organic (specified ingredients or food groups).’” Under NOP regulations, conventional non-organic ingredients produced without the use of genetically modified organisms, sewage sludge or ionizing radiations, as well as…