Articles Tagged with ''biotechnology''

The ag sector and lawmakers aren’t letting up pressure for another trade deal with China, especially since China’s purchase agreement ended Dec. 31, but the Biden administration still has its focus squarely on the “phase one” deal that was struck during the Trump administration.

Streamlined regulations, enforcement of trade agreements, and increased funding for university research are all needed to advance innovation in biotechnology, witnesses and House Agriculture Committee members said at a hearing Tuesday.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke Friday with her Chinese counterpart to explain U.S. concerns over outstanding issues from the “phase one” trade pact as well as Chinese “state-led, non-market policies and practices that harm American workers, farmers and businesses,” according to the Office of the USTR.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing draft guidance for a new regulatory review process aimed at determining when genetically engineered plants need the department's approval for commercialization.

The U.S. needs to take enforcement action under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to address Mexico’s continued refusal to approve genetically modified crop traits and counter Mexico’s threat to ban GMO corn from the human food supply, Biotechnology Innovation Organization President and CEO Michelle McMurry-Heath told lawmakers Tuesday.

Six groups have filed suit against the Agriculture Department over regulations the Trump administration issued last year to streamline the regulation of gene-edited crop traits and allow companies to decide whether their products need USDA approval.

The leader of the UN Food Systems Summit says the initiative aims to get countries to reform their own food systems in ways that address climate change, hunger and other pressing challenges, rather than enabling countries to impose their practices on other nations.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Mexican government officials Wednesday that the country needs to resume its stalled process of approving genetically modified crops and pressed for an update on the country’s progress on increasing access for U.S. potatoes.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has described the upcoming meeting with her Mexican and Canadian counterparts as a friendly-sounding “annual get-together,” but it’s also expected to be a showdown over contentious issues that have put the three countries at odds.

In this opinion piece, Daren Bakst and Gabriella Beaumont-Smith with The Heritage Foundation discuss the potential fallout from Mexico’s bans and what the administration can do.