The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is inviting public comment on a petition from Westhoff seeking deregulation of a petunia variety genetically engineered (GE) to produce orange flowers. The petition will be available for public review and comment for 60 days.
APHIS is interested in receiving comments regarding potential environmental and interrelated economic impacts to assist in their assessment of the petition as it relates to the National Environmental Policy Act. The public comments received, along with the best available scientific documents, will assist APHIS in determining the appropriate environmental documents to prepare in accordance with the petition process to make a fully informed decision on the regulatory status of this GE petunia variety.
Members of the public will be able to submit comments through September 23, 2019.