Biotechnology Oversight Website and Database of Completed Regulatory Agency Reviews

On Friday, February 13, 2004, the U.S. Government launched a new Biotechnology Oversight Website and a Database of Completed Regulatory Agency Reviews. The site offers the public information on how the government regulates and supervises products of modern biotechnology. The Department of State, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated in construction of the website and database.

The centerpiece of the Biotechnology Oversight website is a searchable database of genetically engineered crop plants intended for food or feed that have completed all recommended or required reviews for food, feed or planting use in the United States. Links on the website give users around the world access to information about the U.S. oversight system for products of modern biotechnology, including the roles of the U.S. regulatory agencies; the laws, regulations, and procedures applicable to these products; and information the regulatory agencies have produced in reviewing each product.

The website is part of the U.S. government effort to share information with the public about products of agricultural biotechnology and to promote transparency in the review process that genetically engineered crop plants undergo before they are sold or used in the United States.

The website address is: http://usbiotechreg.nbii.gov.

2004/169