IE-SCS | Specialty Crop Regulatory Assistance

The Specialty Crops Regulatory Assistance (SCRA) is a collaborative, public-private effort to assist public and private-sector developers of biotechnology-derived specialty crops in their efforts to complete the complex US regulatory process for commercialization of biotechnology-derived crops. The innovative nature of some of this research, the limited market potential, and, often, the small-scale of the developing entities make the regulatory process especially challenging. Regulatory costs and complexities can impede and obstruct the availability of diverse crops and biotechnology-derived traits even for those companies with resources to address the regulatory process.

Specialty crop growers can continue to provide an ever expanding, abundant, and diverse supply of safe, high quality food for the public good if they have ready access to diverse crops and diverse traits. The SCRA is helping to ensure that regulatory costs or complexity does not stand in the way of the development of biotechnology-derived specialty crops for a range of crop developers, from small entities to large firms with interests in specialty or niche crops. This is accomplished mostly through small workshops that bring together representatives from all of the US regulatory agencies with crop/trait developers. The workshops focus on real case studies of crops/traits that have completed the US regulatory regime, have started the process, or are partially through with the requirements of the three US agencies with jurisdiction over agricultural biotechnology. For this initiative, Kellye Eversole serves as executive director, Bob Mustell is a commercialization consultant, and Lori Leach with her workshop team handles logistics.

For more information about SCRA please visit www.specialtycropassistance.org