Movement of Organisms Modified or Produced Through Genetic Engineering; Notice of Exemptions

Issuing agencies

Abstract

We are advising the public that we are proposing to exempt plants with additional modifications that could otherwise be achieved through conventional breeding from the regulations that govern the introduction (importation, interstate movement, or release into the environment) of certain organisms modified or produced through genetic engineering. The exempt plants would have distinct modifications on the paternal and maternal alleles of a single gene resulting from repair of a targeted DNA break; deletions generated using an externally provided repair template; or deletions resulting from repair of two targeted double strand breaks on a chromosome. This action would reduce the regulatory burden for developers of certain plants modified or produced through genetic engineering that are unlikely to pose plant pest risks while enabling the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to focus its regulatory resources on risk analyses of unfamiliar products and those more likely to pose a plant pest risk.