- On April 18, 2017, as the House Committee on Appropriations marked up the FY 2017 agriculture spending bill, more than 65 agriculture and food industry groups sent a letter to Congress urging Congress to appropriate $3 million to FDA to fund a joint FDA/USDA consumer outreach program to educate consumers about foods produced with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In May 2017, as part of an overall federal budget agreement that prevented a government shutdown, the requested $3 million was appropriated to FDA to spearhead this initiative.
- Today, FDA announced that the initial phase of its Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative will involve two public meetings in November 2017 to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Francisco, California. The Charlotte, NC meeting will be held on November 7, 2017 and the San Francisco, CA meeting will be held on November 14, 2017. FDA also announced that it will be opening a docket to receive public comments.
- The FDA states that the goal of this initiative is to provide consumer outreach and education through publication and distribution of science-based educational information on the environmental, nutritional, food safety, economic, and humanitarian impacts of agricultural biotechnology. For additional information and to register for the upcoming meetings, click here.