Plant pesticides exemption

STATUS: Under Bush administration review.

Browner also signed a new EPA rule concerning the testing of gene-spliced crop and garden plants that have been modified for enhanced pest- or disease-resistance. The rule would treat genetically improved plants such as corn, cotton, wheat, and marigolds

Like the ozone air quality rule, the plant pesticide rule was not published in the Federal Register by the end of the Clinton presidency, which allows the Bush administration to review it and to adopt a different policy.

Many scientists have argued that genetic modification is more precise, circumscribed, and predictable than other, more traditional techniques of plant modification. Eleven major scientific societies representing more than 80,000 biologists and food professionals published a report warning that the EPA plant pesticide rule would discourage the development of new pest-resistant crops and would prolong and increase the use of chemical pesticides.