i- On November 29, 2023, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a final rule updating the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard’s (the Standard) List of Bioengineered (BE) Foods (the List) by adding “sugarcane (Bt insect-resistant varieties)” and amending “squash (summer)” to “squash (summer, coat protein-mediated virus-resistant varieties).”
- AMS is required to review the List on an annual basis. We have previously blogged about earlier versions of these proposed updates to the List (in the form of a request for comments and a proposed rule) and the final form of these updates includes more precise descriptions which is intended to capture only BE foods.
- The presence a food ingredient on the List (or an ingredient derived from one on the List) in a food establishes a presumption that the food is a BE food requiring a BE disclosure. If a food is on the List, but is not a BE food, then records must be kept rebutting the presumption of its BE status. However, conversely, a food may be a BE food even if it is not on the List, and in all cases a BE disclosure is required if a regulated entity has actual knowledge that a food is BE.
- The effective date of this final rule is December 29, 2023, but per the Standard, regulated entities have 18 months from the effective date to comply.
USDA-AMS Updates List of Bioengineered Foods
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
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