• The Executive Office of the President recently released its Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. Twice a year, federal agencies publish this comprehensive report describing regulations currently under development or recently completed. The agenda provides stakeholders with a preview of agencies’ top regulatory priorities for the coming months.
  • This fall’s agenda highlights significant regulatory undertakings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Of note for USDA is USDA’s National Organic Program plan to strengthen oversight of organic imports to deter fraud, enhance enforcement and protect organic integrity. This blog has actively covered the issues surrounding organic enforcement. In addition, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is looking to revise its regulations regarding genetically engineered plants. This blog will continue to monitor developments surrounding genetically modified organisms, and specifically, gene-edited technologies, both in the U.S. and abroad.
  • In an FDA Voice blog, FDA Commissioner Gottlieb highlighted a number of the agency’s proposed regulatory actions related to tobacco, food claims and labeling. The Unified Agenda includes several actions related to tobacco products, including implementing product standards for testing battery safety of e-cigarettes and administrative detention of tobacco products. FDA also plans to remove all mention of partially hydrogenated oils in its regulations and revoke all prior sanctioned uses, and it has plans to update the definition of the claim “healthy” on food labels. Further, FDA is planning to revoke outdated standards of identity, including for French salad dressing and frozen cherry pie and will reopen the comment period on the proposed rule establishing general principles to update the framework for standards of identity.