National Pork Producers Council

The National Pork Producers Council submitted commits to the Food and Drug Administration this week regarding gene-edited livestock. For more than two years, NPPC says the FDA “has dragged its feet” on the development of gene-edited livestock, an emerging technology with opportunity for livestock agriculture, causing American agriculture to “fall behind in the global race to advance its development.” However, a recently proposed rule would transfer primary regulatory jurisdiction of gene-edited livestock to the Department of Agriculture. In formal comments, NPPC President Howard AV Roth says many nations competing with the U.S. livestock sector already have or are moving to regulatory models that led to commercialization. Roth says, “This is already placing U.S. livestock and poultry producers at a disadvantage.” Gene editing is used to make specific changes within an animal’s own genome. NPPC says gene editing will allow the U.S. to produce animals that are more disease-resistant, require fewer antibiotics and with a smaller environmental footprint.