Industry Groups Concerned About Efforts to Stop FDA’s Review of GE Salmon
A coalition of 38 industry organizations has sent a letter to U.S. House and
Senate leaders urging Congress to allow the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) to complete its review of an application for genetically engineered (GE)
salmon.
The coalition’s letter comes on the heels of a recent House-approved appropriations amendment that prohibits FDA from using money in fiscal year 2012 to finalize its review of AquaBounty Technologies’ application to produce fast-growing GE Atlantic salmon and the efforts of a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers to halt the application’s approval process. According to the “Animal Agriculture Coalition,” if it the amendment becomes law, FDA’s ability to process such applications using best-available science would be diminished, damaging the agency’s credibility “at home and overseas.” Coalition members include the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), whose president and CEO was quoted as saying that “disrupting FDA’s science-based assessment process based on non-scientific political concerns would set a dangerous precedent in our country.” See BIO Press Release, August 3, 2011.
