Glickman Calls for Attention to Biotech Issues

March 30, 2000

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman believes "substantial" economic, structural and social issues must be addressed "in a comprehensive and timely manner" if biotechnology is to benefit farmers and consumers.

USDA needs to "nurture and maintain a regulatory system that evolves with innovations in the technology," he told the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology opening meeting Wednesday. USDA should seek the most modern science to make decisions, develop new methods and approaches to "confirm the soundness of our decisions" and put the regulatory process "under rigorous, independent and credible scientific review." And the general public must be able to access and understand those regulatory decisions, he added.

Glickman said he wanted the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology to "place particular emphasis on the nontechnical issues" involved in agricultural biotechnology.

USDA needs to know how to help farmers deal with changes in planning, agricultural practices and new requirements that may be associated with new products; USDA needs to know how to facilitate "greater transparency and useful information throughout the production and marketing chain"; USDA needs its role identified where rapid changes are concerned in industry structure, from consolidation to vertical integration, he added.