For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.
Under new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules, Monsanto and other biotech companies that create genetically modified (GM) crops will get speedier regulatory reviews of their genetically engineered food products.

The new rules will cut the time needed to approve biotech crops in half-from an average of three years, to about 13 months for new versions of already existing crop technologies, and about 16 months for brand new technologies.

The U.S. Congress is also helping out by increasing the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 2012 budget for biotech regulation from $13 million to $18 million.

One way the USDA plans to speed up approvals is by asking for public comments as soon as a petition for the deregulation of a biotech crop is filed, rather than waiting until the end of the review. 

However, according to Bloombergi:

“The Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based non-profit group that has successfully challenged approvals of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar-beet and alfalfa crops, said the rule change is aimed at preventing opponents of modified crops from voicing criticism of the agency’s methods.

“They are trying to work the system so they can dismiss public comments more quickly and easily in order to speed things up,” Bill Freese, a policy analyst at the group, said in a telephone interview.

“It’s a rubber-stamp system. A real regulatory system will occasionally reject something.””

Monsanto Will Also Conduct Its Own Environmental Impact Studies…

As if that’s not enough, let’s not forget that the USDA also created a two-year long pilot program last year, which allows biotech companies like Monsanto to conduct their own environmental assessments.

This decision opens the door for massive conflicts of interest, because if history has shown us anything, it’s that industries CANNOT police themselves. The end result is always the same-corporate vested interests win every time. This is exactly why we need independent agencies to do safety reviews.