By Philip Brasher

Federal agencies should improve their monitoring of genetically engineered
crops to ensure they don't harm the environment or human health, government
investigators say.

In at least six incidents since 2000, unapproved versions of biotech crops
got into the food and feed supply, and there are likely to be more because
it is so easy for plant genetic material to spread, according to a report
released Friday by the Government Accountability Office.

The report urged the three federal agencies in charge of regulating biotech
crops ? the Agriculture Department, Food and Drug Administration and
Environmental Protection Agency ? to work more closely together to evaluate
and monitor crops, including those already on the market. A concern
scientists have is that the use of herbicide-tolerant crops could lead to
the spread of weedkiller-resistant weeds.

The report also called on the FDA to post on its Web site safety evaluations
of biotech crops. FDA officials said that they would try to do that but that
other concerns have taken a higher priority.

The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin,
plans to get commitments from the incoming Obama administration "to pay
closer attention to these issues," said Kate Cyrul, a spokeswoman for the
panel.

Harkin "will also keep the pressure on the responsible people in the
agencies to improve coordination," she said.

Both the USDA and the EPA are responsible for monitoring research plots. But
the USDA doesn't have the resources to inspect all sites, and neither the
EPA nor the states it has delegated the job to has made such inspections a
priority, the investigators said. Most contamination incidents have been
reported by the crop developers.
www.checkbiotech.org