Obama Administration Announces Revamping Of GMO Regulations – Wants Monsanto To Be More Transparent

For many years, Monsanto along with many other companies that specialize in biotechnology, have been given free reign to set the rules and standards on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). A lot of it has to do with their corporate positions and the fact most people were ignorant about GMOs when they were initially introduced. Also, government organizations took the word of said companies when they said GMOs were safe for human consumption.

Today, the landscape is different. Many who oppose GMOs have banded together to form an organic community, one that supports organic food. Eventually, they would get support from biotech scientists whom independently tested GMOs for safety, finding negatives with their research. And now, government organizations are taking the organic community’s side as they recently reviewed GMO labeling.

If it couldn’t get any worse for Monsanto and GMOs, it just did right before Independence Day. Recent news now reports the Obama Administration announced a major undertaking to review the laws regulating GMOs.

According to a memorandum by the official government website for The White House, the heads of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were given notice of the review. The Obama Administration claims it is an initiative to modernize federal regulation of GMO crops, animals, and microbes. The only exception are biotech products in medicine.

This is great news for the organic community since GMO regulations haven’t been updated since 1992, something the Obama Administration recognizes. Ergo, their review is a one-year plan with three specific goals. The first is to develop regulations that would clearly delegate responsibility among agencies. The second is creating a long-term strategy to increase transparency in the regulatory process to protect public health and the environment. The third is commissioning and independent analysis of the biotech industry’s future.

Several organizations were very happy with the announcement, as reported by Quartz. One individual who expressed favor for the Obama Administration’s review of GMO laws is Scott Faber, senior vice president of Environmental Working Group.

“Reform of the badly outdated system for reviewing GMO crops and other products is long overdue.”

Right now, a date when the Obama Administration will begin their review of GMO laws is not established. But given the fact the organic community and anti-GMO movement is often linked to the green movement, which is heavily supported by the Obama Administration, it probably won’t take long.

[Image via Pool/Getty]