Regulatory comments

KAW comments on the interagency task force report. "A Public Health Action Plan to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance", criticizing the Action Plan for its failure to include effective provisions to address antibiotic resistance problems arising from using antibiotics in food animal agriculture.

IATP submitted this comment to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Food Labeling in response to the USDA's attempt to overcome the conflict between the National Organic Standards Board and the biotechnology industry by declaring equivalency between organically produced and certified food and food derived through genetic manipulation.

Niel Ritchie, National Organizer for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, testified before the U.S. Agriculture Policy Forum, held on June 7, 1999 in Saint Paul, MN., on domestic agriculture policy and the so-called Freedom to Farm legislation.

In preparation for the upcoming Third Ministerial Conference of the WTO, IATP addressed concerns in a comment sent to US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky. The comments cover the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) and intellectual property rights (TRIPS).

More than 200 non-governmental organizations and individuals from dozens of countries around the world signed a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright expressing "concern at the manner in which the United States government is intervening in the domestic affairs of numerous other nations regarding their intellectual property laws".