WASHINGTON, April 14, 2016 - More than 40 farm groups are
raising an alarm over a planned three-day meeting next
week by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific
Advisory Panel over concerns about negative human health effects from the
commonly used pesticide chlorpyrifos. The meeting of the panel, EPA’s primary
source for scientific peer review, could impact far more than just
chlorpyrifos, the National Corn Growers Association and other groups said in a
letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
The farm groups complained in the letter that they had little warning of the
panel meeting and because EPA is rushing the process, it is “attempting to
fundamentally alter its process for evaluating potential risk and regulation of
pesticides. EPA is moving forward as if the current regulatory process
developed over four decades is broken.”
The panel has met twice before over health concerns related to exposure to the
pesticide in 2008 and 2012 and last year issued a proposed rule to revoke all
tolerance levels for the chemical after being ordered to by U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 9th Circuit. EPA hasn’t issued a final rule and is still
reviewing data on chlorpyrifos submitted by industry.
Key Democrat pledges to fight GMO promotion money. The top Democrat on the
House Appropriations Committee says she’s going to work with the Senate to stop
a spending measure that would provide $3 million to promote consumer
understanding and acceptance of biotech crops, Agr-Pulses Phil Brasher
reports.
New York Rep. Nita Lowey argues that the science about genetic engineering
isn’t settled. “The government shouldn’t be promoting acceptance when there is
a very lively healthy debate on GMOs today,” she said. The provision is
included in the fiscal 2017 spending bill for USDA and FDA. Lowey will
have a well-placed ally in the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations
subcommittee that handles the budget for USDA and FDA, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., He
is the leading Senate proponent of labeling biotech foods.
China not interested in TPP yet. Several countries have contacted the U.S.
about eventually joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, but China is not one of them. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said today on a
conference call hosted by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
“We continue to have good dialogue with China on a whole range of issues and
our trade and investment relationship including beef and biotech issues … and
we continue to work with them to negotiate a bilateral [investment] treaty,”
Froman said.
Furthermore, finding applicants for new membership will not be a priority until
TPP has been ratified by the current members, Froman said.
“We’ve been approached by a number of countries about potentially joining in
TPP,” Froman said. “We made clear to them that our priority and the priority of
the other 11 countries right now is just the ratification among the 12 of us
and to focus on the necessary steps to implement the agreement. As to the other
countries, we take note of their interest and we’ll continue to have
conversations with them to educate them about what’s in TPP … but right now our
focus is on getting it ratified and fully implemented.
Almanza is back in Asia to talk catfish. Deputy Under Secretary for Food
Safety Alfred Almanza is back in Asia this week to meet with officials from
countries like Vietnam that hope to be able to continue exporting catfish to
the U.S. after USDA takes over food safety inspection from the FDA. The
meetings in Vietnam may be tense because they come just after the country
delivered a heated letter to the World Trade Organization, accusing the U.S.
trying to block trade under the guise of new food safety requirements.
He said it: “Rural America probably can’t survive without earmarks.” That
was California Rep. Sam Farr, ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture
Appropriations Subcommittee, arguing that rural areas are disproportionately
hurt when lawmakers can't direct money to their districts for infrastructure
projects.
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