Boyden Gray & Associates partner Andrew Varcoe will be speaking on a panel on new developments in agricultural biotechnology on April 19, 2017, at a mini-conference jointly sponsored by the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) and by CropLife America (CLA), the national trade association that represents the manufacturers, formulators, and distributors of pesticides.
The panel will discuss a number of timely issues relating to the legal and regulatory framework governing agricultural biotechnology, including recently proposed revisions to USDA’s biotech plant regulations; an update on the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology; and potential opportunities for biotech in the Farm Bill and under the new Administration. The other panelists are Rostin Behnam, Senior Counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Jack Bobo, Chief Communications Officer for Intrexon. The moderator for the panel is Karen Carr, partner at Arent Fox.
The overall topic of the mini-conference is Hot Topics in Pesticide Law & Policy. Other panels will include speakers from EPA, the Small Business Administration, Defenders of Wildlife, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the National Association of Manufacturers, and biotech and crop protection companies. In addition, Stephen Vaden, Acting General Counsel of USDA, will provide remarks at lunch. The event will be held at Arent Fox’s offices in Washington, D.C.
Until recently, Mr. Varcoe served as Deputy General Counsel for Agriculture and Environment at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the trade association for the biotechnology industry, where he focused on legal, regulatory, and policy issues relevant to technological innovation in agriculture, natural resources, and the environment.