2 
adopted a9 USDA policy and adhered to by researchers for which USDA funds are 
used either intramurally or extramurally , or through grants, contracts, and 
cooperative agreements. 
Although the committee recommended the adoption of the NIH guidelines as 
a part of USDA policy, members of the committee did express their concerns with 
the extremely restrictive nature of the 1976 guidelines that particularly 
impeded the application of recombinant DNA technology in agriculture for such 
projects as genetic improvement of food and fiber crops and the development of 
more useful and reliable biological insect control agents such as the baculo- 
viruses and entomopathogenic bacteria in lieu of certain hazardous chemical 
insecticides. We are generally satisfied with the considerations that the NIH 
has given and incorporated into the revised guidelines, especially for those 
major suggestions for revision that were made to NIH as a result of the Airlie 
House meeting and the workshop on Risk Assessment of Agricultural Pathogens. 
We further note with satisfaction NIH's attempt to meet the concerns of agricul- 
tural scientists regarding the easing of restrictions for recombinant DNA research 
with plants, non-primate vertebrates and invertebrates and regarding the release 
of recombinant DNA-containing organisms into the environment. Although the NIH 
has incorporated a statement to the effect that the prohibition of deliberate 
release into the environment of recombinant "DNA-containing organisms can be 
waived if all of the requirements for a waiver are met, we would like to re- 
emphasize it is obligatory that the U. S. Department of Agriculture be deeply 
involved in this process. Our main concern with this item resides in the 
mechanism of waiver, the definitive requirements for a waiver, and the latitude 
that the waiver allows for release. We would encourage the NIH to draw upon their 
resources, such as the USDA, OSHA, and the Environmental Protection Agency, in 
order to furnish researchers more definitive guidelines for the waiver. 
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