"Groups Press Feds To Overhaul GMO Regulations"

"Environment and food safety groups are pushing the Obama administration to overhaul the nation’s regulations for genetically engineered (GE) plants and animals.

The Center for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth, Pesticide Action Network and Water Watch said Monday it had sent comments to President Obama and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking for mandatory, GE-specific regulation; protections from increased pesticide use; protections for non-GE farmers; mandatory safety testing; and mandatory labeling of foods that contain genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

The groups said over 130,000 comments have been submitted to the agency from individuals and farm groups calling for reform.

The groups are asking the administration to rework the existing guidelines, known as the Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology, that were created in 1986 before GE crops were commercialized. They claim the framework, as it stands, fails to protect consumers and the environment from the harmful effects of the pesticides used on GE crops."
 
Lydia Wheeler reports for The Hill November 16, 2015.