The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is inviting public comment on a petition from Westhoff Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (Westhoff) seeking deregulation of a petunia variety genetically engineered (GE) to produce orange flowers. The petition will be available for public review and comment for 60 days.
APHIS is interested in receiving comments regarding potential environmental and interrelated economic impacts to assist in our assessment of the petition as it relates to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The public comments received, along with the best available scientific documents, will assist APHIS in determining the appropriate environmental documents to prepare in accordance with our petition process to make a fully informed decision on the regulatory status of this GE corn variety.
The petition can be accessed now on the News and Information page of the BRS website. This notice may be viewed in today’s Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-15837 Beginning tomorrow, and through September 23, members of the public will be able to submit comments at www.Regulations.gov.
