What are veterinary biologics? Are all veterinary products regulated by USDA? Discuss the pros and cons of this approach (i.e. having all veterinary products regulated by the USDA or not, dependending on your answer)
Essentially, veterinary biologics are toxins, serums, and viruses of synthetic or natural origins, and they may include diagnostics, vaccines, killed microorganisms, antitoxins, and modified organisms, among others (United States Department of Agriculture, 2013). Yes, the USDA monitors and regulates the movement of all veterinary products distributed within the U.S. or imported into the U.S. Ideally, this approach has its benefits and disadvantages. The primary advantage of this approach is that it enables the provision of more personalized guidelines for the movement of veterinary products across various states in the United States (United States Department of Agriculture, 2013). Furthermore, having one central body to regulate all veterinary products can be relatively efficient as all the regulations are designed and implemented by a single framework instead of being framed out to different agencies. The main disadvantage of having a single body regulate the movement veterinary products is that makes it relatively difficult for the body to specialize in a specific regulatory element in the way that different entities are able to do. Moreover, having a single regulatory body can make it very difficult to institute checks and balances to the agency’s authority or power (United States Department of Agriculture, 2013).
In your opinion, who should regulate Bt corn? We know that APHIS is concerned about the potential for pest damage to plants. But Bt is technically a pesticide, so could EPA or some other agency regulate this plant?
I firmly believe that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should regulate Bt-Corn. Ideally, Bt-Corn is considered a pesticide; therefore, EPA, which plays a significant role in regulating the use of pesticides, is the agency that can regulate and monitor it use. Yes. Bt-Corn is technically a pesticide; therefore, I firmly believe that EPA is best suited to regulate its use and distribution (Environmental Protection Agency, 2011).
References
Environmental Protection Agency (2011). Decisions of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Volume 8 . New York: The Agency
United States Department of Agriculture (2013). Veterinary biologics: Use and regulation. Retrieved from <https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/content/printable_versi on/vet_biologics.pdf>
