The BIO has not only endorsed draft guidelines developed by officials at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA; Washington, DC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Washington, DC and Rockville, MD). At this early stage in development, the industry group has also called for the guidelines to be made mandatory, strictly “confining” pharmaceutical-producing plants capable of outcrossing with food or feed crops to those regions of the country where the latter are not planted. This should ensure that no pharmaceutical crop-derived materials cross over into the food supply. In other words, if a company develops a drug- or antibody-producing corn variety, the corn can't be grown in Iowa or other Corn Belt states.
Before US elections on November 5, this policy statement from BIO had both Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, a Democrat who was reelected to office, and Doug Gross, his Republican opponent, bemoaning this move to exclude pharmaceutical-producing corn varieties from the state, worrying that local farmers would lose out on a chance to cash in on high-value crops. Other top politicians in the state, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) also have expressed concerns over the BIO policy statements.
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