142 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2017 NATIONAL E-FILING FOR PLANT BREEDERS The USDA Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) has launched a new electronic application filing (ePVP) system to provide an efficient and secure way for plant breeders to file new plant variety protection applica- tions with supporting data, pay fees and amend existing applications. STATE BOARD TO ADOPT REGULATION CHANGES Arkansas State Plant Board members voted Nov. 8 during a public hearing and board meeting to approve regulatory changes for the application of products labeled for agricul- tural use that contain dicamba. Changes will prohibit its use in Arkansas between April 16 and October 31. The regulations include exemptions for the use of dicamba in pastures, range- land, turf, ornamental, direct injection for forestry, and home use. This regulation change is now subject to final approval by the executive subcommit- tee of the Arkansas Legislative Council. The Board’s regulatory changes concerning the use of dicamba were subject to a 30-day public com- ment period, which ended on October 30. More than 29,000 public written com- ments were received by email, mail, and fax. Thirty- seven individuals provided testimony at the public hearing. On Dec. 12, the Plant Board will host a public hearing and board meeting to consider changes to the Arkansas Pesticide Control Act Regulation. INTERNATIONAL UGANDA ENACTS BIOSAFETY LAW Uganda enacted a biosafety law in October which is paving the way for planting GM crops in the east African nation. The law includes several clauses aimed at stopping the misuse of GMOs. The new statue establishes institutions to regulate and promote the use of bio- technology for modernizing agriculture, environmental protection, enhancing public health and industrialization. Officials say it is critical that the country enact a biosafety law in its efforts to protect its borders from unauthorized entry of GM crops and to pro- tect the public from consum- ing unsafe GM products. The move will also allow Ugandan scientists to fully and safely utilize their advanced biotech knowledge and capa- bilities to help solve contem- porary challenges, especially in health, agriculture, industry and the environment. A parliamentary commit- tee that scrutinized the bill argued that before Parliament passed the biosafety new law, GM technology was already being used in Uganda to process wine and beer, cheese and yogurt, bread and for the extraction of cobalt. Uganda’s government says it consulted widely before the bill was brought to parliament. Scientists anticipate the new law is paving the way for open air field trials outside the con- fined spaces of laboratories and greenhouses. ETHIOPIA EXPERIMENTING WITH BT COTTON Ethiopia, following the adop- tion of a law that grants experimentation rights to Bt cotton both in labs and fields, is at a point to grow Bt cotton. As a long-term plan, the gov- ernment intends to supply GM cotton seed varieties to the global market. Field trials of Bt cotton have now entered into the final stage at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research. The experiment has been conducted for more than four years on four differ- ent varieties taken from India and Sudan. Results of the field trials show that Bt technology could reverse the influence of insects on Ethiopian cotton production. The field trials and most of the preparation activities that have been undertaken throughout the country have provided satisfactory results. Researchers indicate that Ethiopia will have a Bt cotton variety available to be planted in its farmlands soon. KOREA PROPOSES TO AMEND BIOTHECS LAW The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), is calling for the amendment of the 47th article of Korea’s Bioethics and Biosafety Act. Advocates want to reach a national con- sensus on the right balance between life sciences and bioethics. The KAST permits the application of gene therapy only for the treatment of genetic disorders, cancer, AIDS, life-threatening diseases with no known cure and dis- eases where gene therapy has been guaranteed to produce significantly better results. REGULATORY ROUNDUP Keeping you informed of legislative and regulatory changes at the state, national and international levels — from lawsuits to approvals to other regulatory issues affecting your business. The United States and most other countries place no limits on the types of diseases that can be treated with gene therapy. “Genetic scissors” is an advanced corrective tech- nology used to cut sections of DNA and position them elsewhere, potentially allowing doctors to treat the root cause of genetic disorders. The global market for gene therapy is expected to be worth over 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) by 2023. Many countries have been eager to get on board with this new form of treatment since its rise in the early 2000s. In Korea, scientists are concerned that the country will lose out due to restrictive regulations. SAINT LUCIA BIOSAFETY FRAMEWORK TO CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCE Through a consultative pro- cess, Saint Lucia has devel- oped a biosafety framework to minimize negative environ- mental impacts resulting from GM crops. The framework includes a legislative system, a risk assessment system, an administrative system for han- dling requests to use GMOs, laboratory testing facilities and a public feedback mechanism. One output of this initia- tive is a policy defining Saint Lucia’s vision for regulating GMOs by issuing licenses for specified classes of GMO use. By enacting the biosafety legislation, Saint Lucia signals its commitment to conserving its unique biological resources so that they will continue to contribute to agriculture, tour- ism, food security and innova- tion. SW