ITIF submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on proposed regulations for RNA interference, or RNAi. RNAi is a promising new approach to improving crops to better resist pests, disease, and environmental stresses. Widely seen in nature, where humans encounter it every day in the food we've safely eaten for millennia, this tool provides improved predictability and more targeted pest control that is safer than alternatives now widely accepted and used. EPA is proposing to allow a limited field trial but under restrictive conditions that will seriously disincentivize wider innovation. This violates longstanding U.S. policy to regulate in order to prevent unacceptable risks while encouraging innovative solutions to agricultural challenges.
