APHIS Seeks Comment On Petition To Deregulate Orchid Developed Using Genetic Engineering

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it received a petition from Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Limited seeking a determination of nonregulated status for ISK-311NR-4 Phalaenopsis (moth orchid) that has been developed using genetic engineering to produce a blue-purple flower color. 90 Fed. Reg. 23666. According to APHIS, the petition states that the information provided indicates that ISK-311NR-4 Phalaenopsis is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and therefore should not be regulated under APHIS' regulations in 7 C.F.R. Part 340. As part of APHIS' decision-making process regarding the organism's regulatory status, it prepared a draft plant pest risk assessment (PPRA) to assess the plant pest risk of the organism and a draft environmental assessment (EA) to evaluate potential impacts on the human environment that may result if the petition request is approved. APHIS states that its draft PPRA compared the