A Blizzard and a Regulatory FreezeJanuary 25, 2021

For those in the Midwest today, I hope you are staying warm & are ready for the predicted snowfall and wind gusts currently in progress.

There’s been a lot of news in recent months about agricultural biotechnology regulatory changes underway at various stages of public comment and implementation (7 CFR part 340, proposed EPA rules for gene edited plants considered PIPs, MOU between USDA and FDA concerning the regulation of animal species developed using genetic engineering that are intended for agricultural purposes).

On January 20th, the President implemented a “regulatory freeze” and also signed several executive orders which published in the Federal Register today with regulatory implications. In particular, executive order 13992 revokes several previous executive orders issued under the prior administration: Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation.

While this revocation doesn’t specifically call out EO 13874 related to modernizing the regulatory framework for biotechnology, it is likely that the regulatory freeze and revocation of other related EOs may have a chilling effect on the finalization and rollout of new policies as they are currently proposed. Stay tuned, and bundle up!

Cassie J. Edgar, Patent Attorney and Chair of the Regulatory Law practice group, advises clients in intellectual property, regulatory law, crisis management, compliance, stewardship, lobbying, and matters with USDA, FDA, EPA, and FTC. For additional information, please visit MVS or contact Cassie directly via email at cassie.edgar@ipmvs.com.