Who makes sure biotech products are safe?

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In the United States,

...our national coordinated effort to regulate products of biotechnology includes:

• the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which fulfills its role in overseeing biotechnology through
  • the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
  • the APHIS Center for Veterinary Biologics,
  • the Food Safety and Inspection Service,
  • the Foreign Agricultural Service, and
  • the Agricultural Research Service.
• the Environmental Protection Agency, and
• the Food and Drug Administration.

...our governement regulates the products, not the techniques of biotechnology. Biotech plants, animals and microbes must meet all the same standards and fall under the same laws and regulations as other products. These include

• state seed certification laws (such as the Indiana Seed Law),
• the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA),
• the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and
• the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

In other countries, regulations and positions concerning biotechnology vary. For more information, check out

• Biosafety in Europe
• Biotechnology in Australia and Gene Technology in Australia (Australia)
• Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
• Regulation of Biotechnology in Canada
  • The Regulation of Plants with Novel Traits in Canada
• Development and Use of Biotechnology and Its Influence: Problem on Practical Use of Biotechnology - from the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy, Japan
• Independent Biotechnology Advisory Council (New Zealand)
• Food Biotechnology (from a consortium, led by the University of Nottingham, in United Kingdom)