The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (USDA APHIS) is soliciting comments on their proposal to exempt
somegene modofications in plants from biotechregulations.

According to USDA, the three modifications are similar and functionally
equal to modifications that can be achieved throughconventional
breeding. These include the following:

1. the same or distinct loss of function mutations in the paternal and
maternal alleles of a single gene resulting from the repair of a
targeted DNA break in the same location on two homologous
chromosomes in the absence of a repair template;
2. a contiguous deletion or any size generated using an externally
provided repair template, on one or two homologous chromosomes; and
3. a change resulting from the repair of two targeted double-strand
breaks on a chromosome, or at the same location on two homologous
chromosomes, when the repair results in a contiguous deletion of any
size in the presence or absence of a repair template, or in a
contiguous deletion of any size combined with insertion of DNA in
the absence of a repair template.

USDA APHIS | Proposal to Exempt Plants with Additional Modifications
Produced Using Genetic Engineering That are Otherwise Achievable by
Conventional Breeding
[www.aphis.usda.gov]