b'NBT REGULATIONS DOMINO EFFECT ON GLOBAL TRADE AND INNOVATIONA live Seed Speaks panel takes a hard look at the future of breeding.Sonja BegemannTECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTSare moving at lightning speed and governments around the world are struggling to keep pace. As agriculturalists look to new breed-ing techniques, government agencies around the world have a heavy responsibility on their collective shoulders to regulatewithout stiflingthese techniques.Its an exciting and critical time for us to think, from a regula-tory perspective, about how were going to bring new products to market, says Fan-Li Chou, American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) vice president for scientific affairs and policies, during a live Seed Speaks panel discussion at the ASTA CSS and Seed Expo 2021. We need to have regulatory approaches that fit the purpose and that are science-based and risk proportionate and adjusts as we accumulate more scientific knowledge. UNITED STATESThe ultimate goal for seed industry representatives is toWe have three federal agencies ensure theres still room for innovation with regulatory processes.that may regulate or have some Consistency is critical globally as any differences can have apurview over products from new direct impact on seed and food trade. breeding techniques and theyre in Trade Implications the process of modernizing a 30-year-Undoubtedly, the seed industry is more global today than ever inold framework of regulatory processes history. Countries rely on each other for food and seed trade. that was designed for products of classic genetic Europe is very important in terms of seed export and importengineering, says Fan-Li Chou, ASTA vice president for and also the import of agricultural products and foods, saysscientific affairs and policies.Szabolcs Ruthner, International Seed Federation (ISF) regula- USDA was the first to finalize their revision to reflect products tory affairs manager. So, its important to understand what willdeveloped using NBTs, such as genome editing. Right now, Chou happen with genome editing policies. says the regulations leave room for innovation. For example, if Influence on Innovation certain products are similar to conventionally bred products, they are NBTs have great potential: from creating products that couldexempt from regulations that applies to products of genetic engineering .be derived from conventional breeding faster, to creating newEPA proposed aregulation revision that is very similar to USDA, but biotech products that revolutionize the industry. its not yet finalized. FDA is the final agency set to release a revised policy. At the end of the day, these are tools that can help usWhile each of the agencies have their own regulatory purview and achieve the objective of food and nutritional security, Chou says.statutory authority, theyll have to work together to ensure maximum Without access to clear and fair regulatory framework, seedregulatory alignment. companies are less likely to invest in these new breeding tech-niques. The potential might be capped before its even given theSOUTH & CENTRAL AMERICAopportunity to start. While the regulations are quite diverse, at the end of the day they We need a lot of communication, not only within the seedhave something in common: if no foreign DNA is found in the final product, then family, says Diego Risso, Seed Association of the Americasthis product will be considered non-GM, says Diego Risso, Seed Association of the (SAA) executive director. Its a huge challenge for us to commu- Americas (SAA) executive director. So far, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile, nicate the benefits and safety of these technologies.Honduras and Guatemala have these favorable-to-innovation regulations.56/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2022'