Washington, DC, USA
August 24, 2009

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking additional public comment on the draft audit standard developed for the biotechnology quality management system (BQMS) pilot project. Reopening the comment period will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

The BQMS is a voluntary compliance assistance program that aims to help stakeholders manage the regulatory requirements for field trials and interstate movement of certain genetically engineered (GE) organisms. Additional information about the program can be found at

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/news_bqms.shtml.