U.S. pork lobby says regulatory changes needed after Trump biotech order

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The U.S. pork lobby said on Tuesday more must be done to simplify regulations for genetically altered livestock, weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to streamline the review process for agricultural technology.

Trump, who was elected in 2016 with broad support from farmers, signed the order in Iowa on June 11 and said it would speed up reviews of biotechnology.

The National Pork Producers Council had hoped the order would result in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) establishing a regulatory framework for gene editing, a technology that could be used to alter hogs to resist disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently regulates gene editing in farm animals and “inaccurately classifies livestock as drugs and farms as drug-manufacturing facilities,” the council said in a statement.

The FDA told the council it thinks its approach to gene editing is already in line with Trump’s executive order, Andrew Bailey, a lawyer for the pork group, told reporters on a conference call.

The FDA had no immediate comment and the USDA did not respond to a request for comment.

FDA regulation could lead to a lengthy and expensive process for researchers and companies to gain U.S. approval for gene-edited hogs, according to the council. That could put the United States at risk for falling behind suppliers like Canada, Brazil and China, the group said.

Unlike traditional genetically modified organisms, in which a gene is added from another organism, gene editing works like the find-and-replace function on a word processor. It finds a gene and then makes changes by amending or deleting it.

Scientists can edit genomes more precisely and rapidly than ever before, and altered agricultural products could get to market more quickly and cheaply.

Hog farmers globally are battling diseases like African swine fever and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome that can kill animals or increase the use of drugs in livestock.

Dan Kovich, deputy director of science and technology for the National Pork Producers Council, said the FDA needs “to go back to the drawing board” regarding its approach to gene editing.

Kovich said the pork lobby was working with the Trump administration “to discuss ways to move forward and frankly make sure that the FDA hears and understands our concerns.”