The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced today its final decision to deregulate a variety of sugar beet, commonly known as Roundup Ready (RR) sugar beets, that is genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate.

APHIS said the following in a statement: “After completing both a thorough environmental impact statement (EIS) and plant pest risk assessment (PPRA), holding three public meetings and considering and analyzing thousands of comments regarding its analyses, APHIS has determined that, from the standpoint of plant pest risk, RR sugar beets are as safe as traditionally bred sugar beets.”

This decision comes as good news to farmers, who can now freely cultivate the sugar beets, benefitting from a technology that allows more precise and environmentally benign control of weeds. Read more.