About

The Specialty Crop Regulatory Assistance (SCRA) is a collaborative, public-private effort to assist public and private-sector developers of biotechnology-derived specialty crops in their efforts to complete the complex US regulatory process for commercialization of biotechnology-derived crops.


The innovative nature of some of this research, the limited market potential, and, often, the small-scale of the developing entities make the regulatory process especially challenging. Regulatory costs and complexities can impede and obstruct the availability of diverse crops and biotechnology-derived traits even for those companies with resources to address the regulatory process.

Specialty crop growers can continue to provide an ever expanding, abundant, and diverse supply of safe, high quality food for the public good if they have ready access to diverse crops and diverse traits. The SCRA will help to ensure that regulatory costs or complexity does not stand in the way of the development of biotechnology-derived specialty crops for a range of crop developers, from small entities to large firms with interests in the specialty crops. The SCRA program will allow these entities to broaden their portfolio in the specialty crops.


The SCRA Initiative consists of a steering committee that organizes workshops and coordinates other activities designed to assist developers of genetically engineered products.

SCRA STEERING COMMITTEE
Kellye Eversole, Executive Director, Eversole Associates
Chris Dardick, ARS
Jason Dietz, FDA
Dusti Gallagher, Eversole Associates
Subray Hegde, USDA APHIS
Mike Mendelsohn, EPA
Wayne Parrott, University of Georgia