70 / SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2017 applewoodseed.com Seeds of Wildflowers & Garden Flowers Regional, Special Use & Custom Mixtures Hundreds of Species in Stock For a quote or catalog, call 303.431.7333 or email sales@applewoodseed.com NATIONAL EPA APPROVES NEMASTRIKE TECHNOLOGY Monsanto Company announced May 1 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued registration for tioxazafen, which is branded as NemaStrike Technology. NemaStrike Technology is a nematicide that will be offered as part of the Acceleron Seed Applied Solutions. NemaStrike Technology will provide broad- spectrum control of plant para- sitic nematodes and consistent yield protection performance in corn, soybeans and cotton. CHINA TO EVALUATE PENDING BIOTECH APPLICATIONS In a joint statement, President Donald Trump and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping announced a 100-day action plan under the framework of the U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the two sides reached consensus on addressing issues in the areas of agricultural trade, financial services, investment and energy. The action plan focuses on 10 commitments, one of which is for China’s National Biosafety Committee (NBC) to meet by the end of May 2017 to conduct science- based evaluations of all eight pending U.S. biotechnology product applications to assess the safety of the products for their intended use. COURT RULES: NO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION FOR PESTICIDE LABELS Willowood USA, LLC has obtained a victory against Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC that has national implica- tions for the crop protection industry. In an April 10 ruling, a federal district court in Greensboro, N.C., held that pesticide labels are not subject to copyright protection. Until then, the only other federal court decision, issued in 2006, had ruled in favor of the basics and held that copyright pro- tection applies. In this latest ruling, the North Carolina court found the prior deci- sion to be “unconvincing,” and held that federal pesticide law “contemplates that a [generic] applicant will copy from the original pesticide label in ways that would otherwise infringe a copyright.” USFTC APPROVES SYNGENTA ACQUISITION BY CHEMCHINA U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the proposed acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina — the largest foreign acquisi- tion by a Chinese company. The proposed acquisition first received approval by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, an interdepart- mental committee chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury that includes representatives of 16 U.S. government agen- cies such as State, Commerce, Defense and Homeland Security, in August 2016. The committee was tasked with reviewing the acquisition for potential national security risks. US FDA APPROVES GE PINK PINEAPPLE The U.S. Food and Drug Administration completed the evaluation of genetically engi- neered pink flesh pineapple and concluded that it is as safe and nutritious as its conven- tional pineapple varieties. The pink pineapple was developed by Del Monte Fresh Produce, with lower levels of the enzymes that convert pink pig- ment lycopene to the yellow pigment beta carotene. The new pineapple variety will be identified as “extra sweet pink flesh pineapple” to distinguish it from Del Monte’s “golden extra sweet pineapple.” INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION: GUIDANCE ON THE RISK ASSESSMENT OF GMO AT LOW LEVEL The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a public consulta- tion on a draft guidance document on the risk assess- ment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) present at low levels in food and feed material and not intended for import into the European Union. The European Commission asked EFSA to advise on how implementing regulation 503/2013 needs to be applied to conclude on the safety of GMOs in the context of applications covering their presence as indicated above. EFSA is required to indicate which technical steps of the regulation are necessary and which are not, detailing its rationale in the latter case. SW 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.