BIO's precautionary plant-products policy

Member companies of the Biotechnology Industry Organization that are developing plant-based pharmaceuticals or industrial chemicals have agreed to take steps to prevent contamination of food crops, S*BIO announced on Tuesday. In accordance with draft guidance recently issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA, 10 S*BIO companies pledged that pharmaceutical-producing plants that out-cross will be grown only in regions of the country where little or none of the plant's food/feed counterparts are grown.

S*BIO said the policy is precautionary and that "scientific and regulatory analyses confirm that these products can be safely planted, grown and harvested in an agricultural region where all of the appropriate production and confinement handling practices are implemented." S*BIO also adopted the position that "permits should be required by USDA/APHIS for the movement, field testing and commercial planting of all regulated articles that are intended not to be used for food or feed, including pharmaceutical-producing plants and plants that produce industrial products." ...