A June 2019 Executive Order directed the USDA, the FDA and the EPA to expedite approval of Biotech cultivars. Accordingly the USDA has released a final rule that relieves developers of new GM strains from aspects of the regulatory process.  If developers believe that new cultivars do not present a risk with respect to other plants or pests, it will not be necessary to obtain approval from the USDA requiring extensive evaluation.  Crops regarded as being of low risk will be exempt from regulation.

According to a report by Britt Erickson in Chemical and Engineering News the May 18th USDA Rule has elicited opposition from organizations opposed in principle to all GM technology.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest (they actually ignore science and have their own interests!) stated, "the result is that government regulators and the public will have no idea what products will enter the market and whether those products appropriately qualified for an exemption from oversight".

Activist organizations claim that additional safeguards are required to prevent emergence of pesticide-resistant weeds and that new cultivars may contaminate traditional crops with exotic genes.