Factsheet, January 2011: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is making available two decision-making documents related to the regulation of alfalfa that has been genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide commercially known as Roundup. The first is a determination of non regulated status for Roundup ready alfalfa. This determination, based on a thorough plant pest risk assessment prepared by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), finds there is no plant pest risk associated with Roundup Ready (RR) alfalfa. Consistent with the plant pest provisions of the Plant Protection Act and APHIS’ regulations, the Agency has reviewed the necessary and relevant scientific data and has found that Roundup ready alfalfa exhibits no plant pest properties. Therefore, APHIS is granting the petition to deregulate Roundup ready alfalfa, which will become effective upon publication of the determination in the Federal Register. The second document is a Record of Decision, which selects the second alternative evaluated as part of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), for the petition to grant non-regulated status for RR alfalfa. Based on its plant pest risk assessment, the analysis in the EIS, and public comments on both the draft and final EIS, APHIS is selecting Alternative 2–deregulation in full of Roundup ready alfalfa. The Record of Decision is available here.” [Note – this link is not working now]