Washington, DC – U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer today issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s Executive Order on Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products:
“I welcome President Trump’s Executive Order to modernize our regulatory framework for agricultural biotechnology products. American farmers have made the United States an agricultural powerhouse through these safe and effective innovations. Unfortunately, many of our key trading partners maintain unfair trade barriers to U.S. agricultural exports of products developed through biotechnology. In response to the President’s order, USTR will convene the Trade Policy Staff Committee as soon as possible to develop an international strategy to reduce barriers overseas to U.S. agricultural biotechnology products.”
Background on the Executive Order
On June 11, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order, “Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products.” The goal of this Executive Order is to ensure that the U.S. regulatory system facilitates access to new and innovative biotechnologies by U.S. farmers and ranchers. The Executive Order also recognizes that agricultural products developed using such biotechnologies face unjustified trade barriers and directs USTR to coordinate the development of an international trade strategy to remove these barriers and expand our access to foreign markets.
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