Tying Its Own Hands: APHIS's Inability to Regulate Genetically Modified Crops

Presently, the federal regulation of genetically modified crops is limited. Federal agencies have struggled to properly interpret and execute the broad and outdated congressional mandates in an era of immense development and rapid innovation of agricultural biotechnology. While these advances offer the potential for many benefits, this Note addresses the inability or unwillingness of federal agencies to interpret the relevant federal statutes in a way that enables the agencies to oversee the progress and expansion of this technology. In addition, this Note addresses the difficulty of challenging the agencies' inaction through litigation given the lack of explicit direction from Congress. As a result, unless Congress enacts new legislation to address these modern issues, federal agencies will continue to struggle with the uncertainty as to what level of oversight is mandated or permissible under existing law. Despite the lack of clarity from Congress, however, the agencies can still oversee and regulate agricultural biotechnology by recognizing that the existing congressional mandates, while outdated, are broad enough to authorize federal agency oversight in this emerging and flourishing technological sector.