U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday directing federal agencies to streamline regulations governing agricultural biotechnology.
Trump signed the order during a visit to an ethanol plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The executive order, he said, would “speed up reviews of biotechnology so that farmers can get access to critical scientific advances faster and reap the full benefits of American innovation for many years into the future.”
The White House said in a statement the order “will help eliminate delays, reduce developer costs, and provide greater certainty about the review process for farmers.”
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The United States told the World Trade Organization in a filing published on Friday that it was planning to revise its regulations on importing, transporting and releasing genetically modified organisms.
The proposal from the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the first comprehensive revision of the regulations since they were established in 1987, aims to reduce the regulatory burden to reflect advances in genetic engineering and better understanding of plant pest risks, it said.
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