USDA to Decide Imminently on ‘Agent Orange’ Corn

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently deciding
whether or not to approve an application by Dow Chemical for its
controversial genetically engineered (GE) corn crop that is resistant to
the highly toxic herbicide 2,4-D, one of the main ingredients in Agent
Orange.

On Feb. 22, just five days before the close of the comment period, the USDA extended the public comment period
on this issue until the end of April 2012. The Center for Food Safety
(CFS), the nation’s leading organization in the fight against GE crops,
was one of the groups that requested this extension from USDA, and we
are pleased the agency responded accordingly. If approved, CFS has vowed
to challenge USDA’s decision in court, as this novel GE crop provides
no public benefit and will only cause serious harm to human health, the
environment and threaten American farms.

“Dow’s ‘Agent Orange’ corn will trigger a large increase in 2,4-D
use—and our exposure to this toxic herbicide—yet USDA has not assessed
how much, nor analyzed the serious harm to human health, the environment
or neighboring farms,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the
Center for Food Safety. “This novel corn will foster resistant weeds
that require more toxic pesticides to kill, followed by more resistance
and more pesticides—a chemical arms race in which the only winners are
pesticide/biotechnology firms.”

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