Home News & Events Action Alert: Help Rein In Bt Crops

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Action Alert, Issued 9/22/97:
Help Rein In Bt Crops

Uncontrolled genetically engineered Bt crops are bad for farmers and the environment.

The Issue:
Genetically engineered Bt crops are threatening the effectiveness of one of sustainable ag's most useful, safe, and environmentally friendly pest management tools -- timely sprays of microbial Bt insecticides. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must be able to regulate genetically engineered Bt crops to keep insect pests from quickly developing resistance to Bt. Yet its regulatory authority -- the Plant Pesticide Rule -- is under attack.

What You Can Do:
Tell EPA Administrator Carol Browner to act on the Plant Pesticide Rule to control Bt crops. Make these points in a short letter (see Background below for more info):
  • EPA should have the authority to evaluate the human health and environmental risks of genetically engineered plant pesticides, including Bt crops.
  • EPA should use its authority to impose resistance management plans on Bt crops as a condition of their registration.
  • EPA should move quickly to finalize the plant pesticide rules, as they are needed to keep pace with the development of the industry.

Send letters today to:

Carol Browner, Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
401 M St. SW
Washington, DC 20460; FAX: 202-260-0279

In addition to your hard-copy letter to Browner, post your comments at using the form at the EPA Comments Page.

Background

In 1994, the EPA proposed new rules under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that would allow it to evaluate the human health and environmental risks of an important category of engineered organisms -- plants genetically engineered to produce pesticides, including Bt crops. Now, long after the comment period has closed, groups opposed to the rules are raising objections, taking their protests to Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, and the USDA.

These rules are crucial to the preservation of Bt. Bt crops, unlike sprays, expose insects to toxins throughout the growing season. With Bt crops growing on millions of acres annually, insects' resistance to Bt could develop in as few as three or four years. Once resistance develops, neither Bt crops nor Bt sprays will be effective. The only hope to preserve Bt, is for seed sellers and growers to implement resistance management plans for Bt crops. Because it is highly unlikely that these plans would be adopted voluntarily, EPA must have clear authority to impose them as a condition of registration of Bt crops as pesticides.

Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a group of naturally occurring soil bacteria, favored for their relative safety to humans and their toxicity to specific insects. They have been used for decades in spray form by organic growers and other farmers. The biotechnology industry, recognizing the advantage of this natural insecticide, engineered crop plants to produce the Bt toxins. Over time, the widespread use of these engineered plants will render this natural pesticide ineffective because the insects will become resistant.

For More Information: Source: Action alert from the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, P.O. Box 396, Pine Bush, NY 12566. Phone: (914) 744-8448. Fax: (914) 744-8477. email: Campaign@magiccarpet.com

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