-The Hagstrom Report
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Assistant Secretary for Health and Public Health Service Admiral Brett Giroir signed a memorandum of understanding transferring some of the responsibilities for agricultural animal biotechnology regulation from the Food and Drug Administration to USDA, but FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the agency does not support it, making it unlikely the agreement will be honored in the Biden administration.
FDA is a division of the Health and Human Services Department.
“Today’s memorandum of understanding clears a path to bring our regulatory framework into the 21st century, putting American producers on a level playing field with their competitors around the world. In the past, regulations stifled innovation, causing American businesses to play catch-up and cede market share,” Perdue said after signing the agreement. “America has the safest and most affordable food supply in the entire world thanks to the innovation of ou
FDA Commissioner Hahn says his agency does not support the MOU allowing USDA oversight of animal biotechnology.
In action Jan. 19, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Assistant Secretary for Health and Head of the Public Health Service Admiral Brett Giroir, M.D., establishing a regulatory environment at USDA for agricultural animal biotechnology innovation. However, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn says despite the MOU, FDA will not hand over oversight to USDA.
“USDA and FDA have a long history of delineating the review of products with overlapping jurisdictional authority between the two agencies to promote regulatory clarity and reduce duplicative review,” USDA states. However, Hahn continues to say human health oversight should remain at FDA. The back and forth between USDA and FDA culminates over a year of discussion between Perdue’s comments and actions at USDA and FDA’s staunch desire to s